Child Car Seat Safety

Children are still killed in car accidents because they are not properly restrained. You can best protect your children by putting them in a properly fitted child car seat that is appropriate for their weight and size.

Buying:

• Choose the right seat for your child's height and weight.
• Try it for fit in the car or cars you will use it in.
• Look for the official approval mark (usually the United Nations 'E' mark). The current UN standard is Regulation 44.03
• Beware of second hand seats. They could have been damaged and may not meet the modern standards. The fitting instructions may also be missing.

Fitting:

• The child must be tight in the adult seat. Push all your weight into the child seat as you tighten the belt.
• Keep the fitting instructions in the car.
• Any doubts ask a professional to show you how.

Airbag:

• Never fit a rear-facing child restraint in a seat with an active airbag in front of it.
• Forward-facing restraints should be as far back from the airbag as possible. Check the car handbook.

Seating your child:

• Make sure the harness is correctly adjusted - only one or two fingers should fit between the child's chest and harness.
• If you are using a booster seat or cushion, the adult seatbelt should rest on the child's shoulder, not next and from hipbone to hipbone.
• Never tuck the seatbelt under the child's arm or behind their back.

Remember:

• Fit it properly every time. It's no good if you don't.
• Take time to get the child comfortably strapped in.
• Make sure the adult seatbelt passes through all the correct guides.
• Never modify the seat or adult seatbelt to make it fit.
• The child seat must be tight in the adult seat.
• The adult seatbelt buckle should not be bent over or rest on the child seat frame.
• Never fit a rear-facing seat with an active airbag in front of it.
• Never fit a rear-facing seat with an active airbag in front of it.

Further information can be obtained from www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk (this is an external hyperlink).