Child Booster Seat Law Is set to change
Published Date: 3rd May 2016
Making sure your child is safe and legal whilst travelling in a car is a massive priority for any parent. The current stance of the law states children under 135 cm or 12 years old must use a child seat and children weighing as little as 15kg (the average weight of a three year old) can use a simple booster seat. A child over 3 years can travel without a car seat if the journey is short, unexpected and necessary.
What are the child booster seat proposed changes?
The change means that a child under 22kg or under 125cm in height must be placed in a booster combination seat containing a back part also. This will render most of the current backless, seat only adapters illegal and useless.
The changes to the legislation are being discussed because safety experts say that the backless booster seat will not provide enough support and protection when it comes to smaller children.
It‘s currently practically thought that when the new law comes into effect it will only affect newly bought seats. Parents with the current booster seats will be able to continue using them with the current law as long as their child weighs over 15kg.
There is still an air of uncertainty to the new changes and exactly what they may involve. The department of transport told BBC News that negotiations are still “ongoing” and the final changes are still to be decided.
Safety experts however still maintain that using a high back booster seat for a child under 12 years is the safest way to go. The seat contains guide runners for the car’s safety belt and seats the child at a optimum position for the seat belt to work as it should in a collision.
Currently the market can be a bit of a minefield with retailers and manufacturers both citing different regulations from either the legislation or newer i-size child seat rules. This can be very conflicting for new parents looking to buy a new child seat for their bundle of joy. Let us hope the new legislation clears it all up for everyone.