Child Seat Laws Unclear For Parents

Laws around child seats have often been a bit hazy and it’s been revealed that around three quarters of parents do not know the correct laws when it comes to child seats in cars according to a survey. This can be a danger as there are specific rules and guidelines for the reason of safety, having an incorrect car seat can end lives of children. It’s up to the driver to know the correct laws and precautions that are needed when it comes to having a car seat in the vehicle.
UK law states that children under the age of 12 or under the height of 4ft and 5in should use a child seat when travelling in a car although safety experts recommend that the UK law should be raised to 4ft and 11in a significant 6in difference they believe will improve safety. So how many people know of that rule? According to surveys not many, it has been found by the road safety charity Brake that only 26% of parents are familiar with the law and 5% of people have also admitted to never using a child or booster seat for their children which isn’t only against the law it’s extremely dangerous.

It is stated that every year more than 700 young children are killed or seriously injured on British roads, this is a serious figure which the government are wanting to tackle. Also another notable thing is that if a car seat is involved in a road accident no matter what it should be replaced as there may be unseen damage causing further risk if there is another serious accident.

The study also found that 27% of parents defy advice from the safety expert by buying and using a second hand booster seat and almost half of parents don’t even check if their child is using the appropriate seat for their size when travelling in a taxi or someone else’s car, these figures are scary as you never know if an accident will happen and young children are the most prone to death when it comes to such incidents. All deaths and serious injuries on the roads are preventable and as a parent you should take every necessary step in order to ensure your child’s safety.

Having worked in the car rental industry for over 15 years, he really knows his stuff. Rob heads up our marketing department and as a keen traveller, always has a new location to talk about. Particularly if there is a golf course nearby.