New national car seat safety laws announced
March 4, 2008 · Print This Article
Car safety for children is an important issue for all parents. Currently 500 children under the age of ten are killed or seriously injured every year in car accidents with a further 2,300 receiving minor injuries.
Last week, Transport Ministers from around Australia announced unanimous support for new national child car restraint laws.
Babies up to six months of age must be in a rear-facing infant capsule, then in a forward facing car seat until four years of age and then in a booster seat from four to seven years of age.
Up to the age of four, children must be restrained in the back seat of the car. Children between four and seven years old must not be seated in the front seat unless all backseats are taken up with younger children.
Remember to make sure your child’s restraint is appropriate for her weight and height, that it meets Australian Standards, and that it is installed correctly.
The new laws use the child’s age as the best guide as parents will know their child’s age but may not be aware of their height or weight, however the safest position for small babies to travel in is facing backwards, so it is important to leave her in her rear-facing car-seat or capsule until she reaches the upper weight limit before moving her into a forward facing restraint.
Useful links:
CHOICE Child car rest
Australian Transport Safety Bureau – Simple Guide to Child Restraints
NRMA Q&A on Child and Infant restraints
Belletoni Association for child passenger safety - types of child restraints
All very well, but are they going to be policed?
I welcome these new laws.
Child safety encompasses every single thing we do with our children and it is high time that all parents buckle up to child safety.
That’s a good policy…I hope those policy will be well applied to minimize car accident especially for the children.
I welcome the new laws as well. I can’t believe the number of people who still risk their kids safety.
The new laws are great, but it would be event better if they we able to ratify the ISOFIX standard for car seats as well. This would bring us into line with much of the rest of the world, making car seats more affordable.
But hey, what price for saftey.
The laws sound great, but you cannot buy a forward facing car seat for a child over 18 kg. My 18 kg 3 year old has to be in a booster, so we would be breaking these new laws.
I only read about the new laws in my motoring magazine last night then I found this. My son has been out of a booster for about 2 years - he’s nearly 7. I finished the booster with him because he’s so tall and his head was taller than the back of the seat. In the event of a crash it would have been bad for his head and neck. He still sits in the back and wears a harness because he’s still not quite tall enough for just a seatbelt.
By the time the new laws take effect my son will be 7 and I won’t have to worry about getting a mega expensive booster seat for him, if I could find one.
Have these laws been implemented yet, If not when do they come in? I have 4 children aged between 1 and 3.
“GnT - The laws sound great, but you cannot buy a forward facing car seat for a child over 18 kg. My 18 kg 3 year old has to be in a booster, so we would be breaking these new laws”
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GnT - Have you checked out Safe’n'Sound’s Maxi Rider? True, it is a forward facing seat with an inbuilt harness suitable up to 18kg, but it then converts to a “booster” with a 14kg - 26kg rating simply by removing the harness and installing the included anti-submarining attachment - use it with your adult seatbelt. Might be a suitable option for you??