20 February 2007

CHILD RESTRAINT REMINDER

Parents have only one week left to ensure they have the right car child restraints fitted before new seat belt laws come into force.

DOE road safety spokesman, Harry Green said: “The new seat belt laws come into force on Tuesday 27 February. Responsible parents already insist that their children use child restraints when travelling by car. Those who do not are gambling with their children’s lives. But some people will not listen to the message until the law forces them. That time has now come.

"In an emergency, an unbelted child will be thrown around the car, her neck might be broken and others in the car also maimed or even killed, especially from head injuries. Seat belts in cars are designed for adults, not children. A child’s needs change as they grow and a restraint appropriate to the stage of their development is essential.

"It is also essential that child restraints are properly fitted, and DOE’s Road Safety Officers and retailers will provide advice on the new regulations and advice on the correct fitting of restraints. I would like to see travelling without a child restraint becoming as socially unacceptable as smoking in church.”

Mr Green also reminded older children and adults that, in most cases where seat belts are fitted in buses and coaches, they will now have to be used. He said: “Despite seat belts now being more common in buses and coaches, they are seldom used. From Tuesday 27 February, those seat belts must be used.”

Leaflets providing details of the new laws on child restraints and seatbelts have been circulated to homes, businesses and organisations across Northern Ireland. Further clarification is available on DOE road safety website at www.roadsafetyni.gov.uk

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 Tuesday 27 February 2007, the new rules will mean that:
   • Children under three 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 three 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 three or over must use the adult seatbelt, but there is no requirement for the under three's to do so.
   • On occasional journeys (e.g. unforeseen emergencies) over short distances where no booster is available, children over three may travel in the back seat using a seatbelt.
   • If a car has three seat belts in the back, twi occupied child seats or boosters in the back prevent a 3rd being fitted and another child is occupying a child seat in the front, a fourth child aged three 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 (roads where street lighting is not more than 185 metres apart) or where provision has been made for standing passengers and the operator permits standing.
5. The Department has distributed explanatory leaflets to homes across Northern Ireland. The leaflet can be downloaded from the DOE Road Safety Division website www.roadsafetyni.gov.uk A summary of the main requirements has already been 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 forthcoming Road Traffic (NI) Order (2007) will introduce endorsable offences attracting three 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 fine will be mirrored in buses and coaches where seatbelts are fitted.
7. The 2006 NI Seatbelt Survey (http://csrb.doeni.gov.uk/statistics/statistics.asp) 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.
8. From May 2008, all child restraints must comply with the UN ECE 44.03 standard or subsequent versions.
9. DOE’s Road Safety Office numbers are:
   Armagh: 3752 0773
   Ballymena: 2564 4311
   Belfast: 9050 8181
   Hydebank: 9025 3123
   Londonderry: 7131 9319.

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