New law says 11-year-olds must use car seats, just like babies

[Pronkertjie]

Think this will make life difficult for many parents - they won't be able to call anyone to meet their child at school or take them somewhere when they run late.

Sincerly hope that the car manufacturers will come up "family" cars to transport children. Ai jai jai.

[TheDuck]

Pronks .. this can cause major problems for those who have 3 children, as the car seat takes up far more space than what the child would.

Finding a car able to transport 3 children on the backseat all in car seats is going to be some venture for parents.

We are in an MVP and when looking at a station wagon as a family car there is a significant difference in getting all the seats to fit in just a normal station wagon.

Seems this is a UK policy at present

quite incredible considering how one would travel around in a car in the 70's

[Pronkertjie]

Maybe those that made the decision don't have families. or they have grown-up children. :babyroll:

[TheDuck]

do also remember that if a car has an air bag at the front seat you cannot put a child in the front seat

[oe-la-la]

do also remember that if a car has an air bag at the front seat you cannot put a child in the front seat

Unless you deactivate the airbag as some cars can.

But yeah I agree this is a bit of a tameletjie for parents with more than one child under 12 :mmm:

[Icecub]

can u imagine me taking my son in his booster seat to school and he is into his 3rd yr of high school... :yikes: he would die rather......lol lol lol

as for ppl with lots of kids...can u imagine that..not a happy scenario i can tell u.. :yikes:

[dudette]

Take your seats By Sean Coughlan

From next month, many children who thought they had grown out of sitting in child car seats will have to go back into them, as new rules come into force. And among parents there is widespread uncertainty about what the new laws mean.

Belt up
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The idea of tightening the regulations is to make sure that children use safety seats longer - until they're tall enough for adult seat belts, with the legal threshold set at 135 cm (about 4 feet 5 inches) or 12 years of age.

This doesn't mean having to buy a child seat with back or head protection: the requirement is that children are raised to a sufficient height. This legal minimum would be covered by a the backless plastic seats - sometimes called "booster cushions" - which cost about £20. But there are also car seats, including side protection, which can cost more than £200.

There are exceptions to the new regulations. If there is a one-off "unexpected necessity", parents are allowed to waive the restrictions - but this will not apply to the school run. If families take turns in picking up each others' primary school children, they will now have to equip their car with enough appropriate car seats.

However, in another exception, many cars are not big enough to accommodate three seats across the back - so families in such cases will be able to travel with only two car seats.

source BBC News Magazine

I do hope they phase this in over a long tme ... my son will not take too kindly to this! :duh:

He is tall for his age, so I'm hoping that will cover him ...

[dudette]

Q&A: New child car seat law

A new law comes into force on 18 September 2006, which the government says could save up to 2,000 children per year from death or injury in road accidents.

From the BBC Website ...

[gwasi]

Can understand where you're all coming from but with a 6 year old know it all I'm glad we can turn around and say that you have to use your booster seat it's the law. She thought she was way too big for it. HA!

It will mean that school lift schemes will come to an end and that means more cars on the road, especially around the schools, so it might cancel out the lifes saved.

[Icecub]

i am just going to let him use his wheelchair cushion he normally uses, no fuss is being made here....so will try that avenue until the news here says so....