New Child Car Seat Laws in UK today!

[TamDigital]

As a parent I was disappointed to see so little by way of advanced notice of this revision of road safety laws in the UK.

The new regulations come into effect today and non-compliance can land you a £30 on the spot fine or up to £500 if the case were to go to court.

In a nutshell you are now required to use 'correct child restraints' for children of various shapes and sizes, please see the thinkroadsafety dot gov dot uk website for specifics.

Thankfully I am responsible and already comply.

[dkmech]

It's almost "fair enough" when parents are concerned... But now all the people who give occasional lifts to friends and relative with kids are gonna have to say "NO!" or face a fine... I guess this makes it impossible for families to use taxi's either, as i doubt many of those will have booster seats handy... Maybe this is one of those laws we will get used to in the long run like we are now happy with seatbelts, but while cars actually come equipped with seatbelts the booster seats are sold separately...

[TamDigital]

Oh, they thought of taxis and let them off, personally I think taxis should be made to comply in some way, and buses come to think of it. They will even let you off if its a short distance trip and no correct child restraint is available. It all seems a bit loose really.

[dkmech]

Well I'd say its not a bad thing to have cars where children travel often to have appropriate restraints. As long as people aren't significantly prevented from travelling with kids.

[[GSV]Trig]

All sounds a bit random to me tbh, if I didnt listen to the radio I wouldnt know about this new "Law"..

[TamDigital]

I agree, the government has been very feeble in building awareness. I think there should have been much heavier education on the law and the best place to do that would hve been via schools and nurseries for a start, with Doctors' surgeries a good second.

Notwithstanding that, maybe the law should have been there long ago?

[pak000]

i have no problem with the law itself, it makes sense, but as people have already said, there was very little publicity about the change. I was aware of the issue some months ago - i heard a brief mention of it on the news, but completely forgot about it until today. I don't have kids, so its not that much of an issue for me.

I know ignorance of the law is no excuse, but with things like this, are you expected to retain a solicitor to guide you through all the laws that are constantly changing that you are unaware about?

[listy]

i read that if your in taxi if they have seat in the taxi you have to use it

also read that if its an emergancy you dont need to use one

but i knew about it ages ago

[TamDigital]

The penalty is very light too isn;t it? £30 is hardly going to be a great worry until it has to be paid. I'd favour endorsements for the offence tbh, but I would also favour subsidised child restraints (car seats and whatnot) for poor families at the same time.

I've seen some mothers allowing their children to romp about the back seats of their cars with no restraints before now (I could even name names), frankly I think that is criminal and should lead to heavy fines and endorsements.

[dkmech]

Checked argos for booster seats - out of stock in all the stores around my area and online. Good job I don't need one eh

[TamDigital]

Just realised there is no mention of the use of lap straps. Using a booster seat in that instance would be ineffectual and possibly slightly more dangerous.

[Ferral]

Basically children under the size of 140 cm's have to be in a booster seat. Seatbelts are designed for adults so could end up strangling kids if anything happens whilst on the road.

We bought 3 seats a few weeks ago when we heard about the new law and have been using them since.

[Atomic]

Checked argos for booster seats - out of stock in all the stores around my area and online. Good job I don't need one eh

Just had a look for one for my sister this morning and Halfords, Mothercare and Argos in Norwich are all out of stock too...

I hope the Police will be leinant for the first few weeks.

[listy]

140 cm's

shops round me are saying 135cm tbh

From September 18 all children under 12 years old must have the appropriate restraint whether it is a full child seat or a booster seat, unless they are taller than 135 cm (about 4 foot 5 inches).

[dave87]

The halfords near me has also run out, but is stating 140cms like most places around here...

Dave

[TamDigital]

Aha, now I can post the links ... http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/ca...ldcarseats.htm and the full guide at http://www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/ca...aw-leaflet.pdf

Its 135cm according the the governemnt's site.