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Title: CHILD CARE RESTRAINTS COMPULSORY FROM FEBRUARY 2007
Date: 26th January 2007
News Details:
CHILD CAR RESTRAINTS COMPULSORY FROM FEBRUARY
Drivers will have to put children in restraints and seat belts where fitted, from next month or face stiff penalties.
Department of the Environment (DOE) Minister David Cairns said: “Most parents make sure they put very small children into baby seats. But as children get older some are put straight into adult seat belts, which are just not suitable. Some don’t even bother using a belt at all. One in ten children under 14 years in Northern Ireland still travels in the back of cars without being safely belted in. We all know that this is putting children’s lives at risk.”
He added: “Children are not small adults. Their bodies have different strengths and weaknesses and they are much more vulnerable to the most serious head and other internal injuries. They need protected differently at each stage of their development and it is vitally important that they have the appropriate restraints to provide that protection.”
David Cairns reminded older children and adults also that, in most cases where seat belts are fitted in buses and coaches, they will have to be used. He said “Coaches and buses are among the safest forms of travel available. We are now making it safer. From Tuesday 27 February, where seatbelts are fitted on coaches, passengers aged fourteen years and over will be required to use them. There will be stiff penalties for those who do not comply.”
The new rules will mean that in cars and goods vehicles, children under three years of age must always be carried in a baby or child seat appropriate to their weight. Children aged three to 12 and under 135 cm (whichever occurs first) must use a booster seat or cushion and children over 135 cm must use a booster cushion or adult seat belt. All bus passengers aged 14 years of age and over will be required to use seat belts where fitted.
David Cairns said that he had instructed his Department to ensure that details of the practicalities of the new legislation would be made widely available before the new law took effect.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1.The law already requires drivers and adult passengers to use seatbelts provided in cars and goods vehicles. It also requires children travelling in front seats to use a child restraint or a seatbelt.
2.From 27 February 2007 the new rules will mean that:
•Children under 3 must always be carried in a baby or child seat appropriate to their weight
•Rear-facing baby seats must not be used in a seat protected by an active frontal air-bag
•Children aged 3 to 12 and under 135cm (4ft 5ins) must use an appropriate booster seat or cushion
•Children over 135cm must use an appropriate booster cushion or adult seatbelt
•Bus and coach passengers aged 14 and over must use seat belts where fitted
•Operators must inform all passengers of the need to use seat belts.
3.To take account of unusual circumstances and emergencies,
•In taxis (if appropriate child seats or boosters are not available) children may travel in the back, those 3 or over must use the adult seatbelt, but there is no requirement for the under 3s to do so
•On occasional journeys (e.g. unforeseen emergencies) over short distances where no booster is available, children over 3 may travel in the back seat using a seatbelt
•If a car has 3 seat belts in the back and 2 occupied child seats or boosters in the back prevent a third being fitted, and another child is occupying a child seat in the front, a fourth child aged 3 or over may travel using an adult belt in the back seat
•The new rules will not apply to police, ambulance and other emergency vehicles
4.All passengers aged 14 years and above must use seat belts where fitted in buses and coaches. Operators must inform all passengers of the need to use seat belts. Passengers are exempt from the requirement to use seat belts in large buses or coaches being used as a local service where the entire route consists of restricted roads (where street lighting is not more than 185m apart) or where provision has been made for standing passengers and the operator permits standing. There will be further consultation on new regulations to be made as soon as possible to determine who should be responsible for ensuring that children under 14 years use seat belts in large buses and coaches.
5.DOE will be distributing explanatory leaflets to homes across Northern Ireland over the next two weeks. The leaflet can be downloaded from the DOE Road Safety Division website www.roadsafetyni.gov.uk . A summary of the main requirements will also be included in newspaper advertisements.
6.Currently for adults a fixed penalty of £30 applies for not wearing a seatbelt in a car, which rises to £500 on conviction. For a child the fixed penalty is also £30 and, on conviction, £500 for a child travelling in the front and £200 in the rear of a car. The Road Traffic (NI) Order (2007) to be introduced later this year will introduce endorseable offences attracting 3 penalty points and one fixed penalty fine of £60. This will rise to £500 on conviction for any occupant anywhere in the car. These levels of fines will be mirrored in buses and coaches where seatbelts are fitted.
7.The 2006 NI Seatbelt Survey showed that in the back seat while 96% of children aged 1-4 were restrained, the figure declined to 84% for 5-9s and 86% for 10-13 year olds ( http://csrb.doeni.gov.uk/statistics/statistics.asp ).
8.From May 2008, all child restraints must comply with the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) UN ECE 44.03 standard or subsequent versions. Modern child restraints conform to the current UNECE standard and are designed for specific weight ranges of child. They have to meet type approval standard and be marked with a label (showing an "E" and "44.03" or ".03") and the Group number, or weight range of child, for which it is designed. Most retailers of child restraints will have trained staff that can help in choosing the right one.
9.DOE Road Safety Office numbers are:
•Armagh: 3752 0773
•Ballymena:2564 4311
•Belfast: 9050 8181
•Hydebank:9025 3123
•Londonderry: 7031 9319.
Further News Media enquiries to DOE Press Office Tel 028 9054 0003.
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