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New Child Car Seat Regulations - 18 September 2006

On Monday 18th September 2006, new regulations came into force concerning the enforced use of child c ar seats in the UK. These changes were brought in to update the previous regulations which dated back to 1993 - a time that many cars rolled off the production line minus rear-seat belts. The rules in force until now indicated that child seats and booster seats should be used 'where available'. As most cars manufactured today do have seat belts fitted in the rear, parents can now increase their children's safety by using boosters and child seats - and of course, they'll stay on the right side of the law.

The regulations say that all children travelling in a car must be subject to the appropriate safety restraint.

The new rules have been brought in to protect children in the UK - according to figures released by the Department of Transport for the year 2005, 11,000 children under the age of 11 were killed or injured in car accidents. It is believed that the proper use of child car restraints could have prevented a great number of these deaths and injuries.

Stephen Ladyman, Road Safety Minister explains: "Most people make sure that children use some kind of restraint when travelling on the road, but it is vitally important to use the right one; and not to use an adult belt before the child is big enough.

For more advice on safer motoring       click here