Children's lives put at risk in cars

Children’s lives are being put at risk from badly fitted car seats new research reveals.

 

The AA and car seat manufacturer Britax, have found that more than 83 per cent of drivers are not aware of current UK car seat legislation.

 

The UK law introduced in 2006 requires all children to use a child restraint until they are either 135cms or the age of 12.

 

The research also showed that 74 per cent of grandparents did not know that children even had to use a car seat, and 86 per cent didn’t know the minimum height requirements.

 

Two thirds of child car seats are also not being fitted into the car correctly.

 

The ISOFIX system developed for fitting child car seats is available in 25 per cent of all cars despite 74 per cent of drivers having never heard of it. ISOFIX attachments lock the seats in reducing the risk of incorrectly fitted seats.

President of the Automobile Association, Edmund King said: “It’s shocking that despite the great safety advances in child seat design over the past 12 years that such significant numbers of child car seats are still fitted incorrectly,” said. “Our children and grandchildren are our most precious cargo so we must do all we can to keep them safe and keep within the law.”

 

Britax European managing director, Ian Watson added: “Britax launched ISOFIX technology in co-operation with VW in 1997 and the safety system is designed to minimise installation errors and reduce the risk of misuse through standardised fitting points between child seats and a vehicle. These fittings mean that if you’re moving your child’s car seat between cars, for example, to a grandparent’s car, fitting is easier and there is less chance of a car seat being fitted incorrectly.”

 

As a result of this research the AA has developed with Britax a range of AA approved car seats from birth to approximately 12 years old, all of which utilise ISOFIX and are available from Mothercare.