General Chat

As from May new regulations All children under the height of135cm , 4ft 5in and under 12yrs must use a booster seat To raise child adult height to make adult seatbelt fit more securely , safety and comfortable. This should be fun trying to get a booster seat for my six year old grandson,he's huge but still just under height,and how many under 12 s will sit on a booster seat !!

Thanks for that - is there a website with this info on?

ILL LOOK I JUST GOT IT FROM NEW MOTHERCARE CATALOUGE,I ALREADY KNEW BUT HADNT SEEN IT

just found this .... 'The key proposals are that: All children under 3 years old must use an appropriate child restraint when travelling in a car or goods vehicle (except in a taxi if a child seat is not available); Children aged 3 or more years old and up to 135 cms (approx 4 ft 5 inches) in height must use an appropriate child restraint when travelling in cars or goods vehicles fitted with seat belts (few exceptions are permitted); Rear-facing baby seats must not be used in seats with active frontal air-bag; All child restraints must conform to modern safety standards, meaning UN-ECE Regulation 44.03 (to apply from May 2008); and Where seat belts are provided, the number of people carried in the rear of vehicles may not exceed the number of seats available fitted with seat belts or child restraints (to apply from May 2009). It is hoped that new legislation will prevent around 2000 child deaths and injuries per year nothing about boosters?? I find that there are so many people who do not even bother to strap their kids in. It is something that makes my blood boil. Also babies carried on laps in cars grrrrrrrrrrr. Maz. XX

Just found this as well - looks as if Mothercare are exaggerating a bit! 'From May 2006, the seat belt and child seat regulations are being tightened up so that children under three years must always use a child seat when in the front or back of any car or goods vehicle. And children from three years up to a height of 135cms (4ft 5ins), reached, on average, at nine years, must always use a child seat, booster seat or booster cushion with very few exceptions.' Maz. XX

Hi Maz On your latest thread I thought that applied already. I was amazed by this on another bit of your thread Where seat belts are provided, the number of people carried in the rear of vehicles may not exceed the number of seats available fitted with seat belts or child restraints (to apply from May 2009). MAY 2009!!!!!!!!! Can this be right! Penny

Hi Penny - I really don't know, all I did was google!! Maybe it refers to cars that don't have a centre lap belt? Think you can carry someone nevertheless at the moment. The thing that REALLY gets me is seeing kids standing up in the back of cars and leaning between the front seats ... also kids on laps in the front of vans with no restraint at all. Maz. XX

Hi I saw a couple of kids going to school today - standing up in the back - amazing!!! I would never think of not strapping a child in a seat belt - let alone taking them in a car that doesn't have a seat belt at all. We had a car crash last year with the kids in - no serious damage done to us - only the car - but it made the kids think why they wear seat belts rather than thinking of them (the seat belts - not the kids:-) ) as a nuisance!! Penny

Nothing new to us. Australia have had these rules regarding children in correct child seats for years. And, hospitals won't allow you to take the new borns home without the correct approved seats fitted into the car. And no child under the age of 8 (I think) is allowed to travel in the front seat of a car, with or without a booster, unless the vehicle happens to be a utility that doesn't have a back seat. Rebs x

When I had my eldest - just under 8 years ago - someone had to borrow a child seat from the hospital before they would let them take their baby home! Penny

Hi sorry to post and run, i'm wondering how they will controll this new regulation its bad enough the amount of parents not even using car seats,and children on front seats without seatbelts just stand by the school gates every morning,i recently saw dad with a toddler on his lap,,,and he was the driver the toddler with hands on the wheel,

I wonder how that affects mini-cabs?

My wife's job was school transport until a couple of years ago. It's not just the use of a baby seat. The correct fitting is absolutely critical. And as for monitoring, judging by the number of people (of both sexes) I see using a hand-held mobile phone whilst driving, which has been illegal for over a year, the chances of being stopped are minimal.