Over half of North East parents confused by booster seat laws
More than half of parents in the North East do not fully understand the current booster seat height, age and weight regulations, according to new research.
Freedom of Information data has revealed there were more than 4,600 incidents of UK drivers not adhering to child seatbelt laws in 2015, with over 19,000 offences recorded between 2013 and 2015.
Worryingly, a poll from Confused.com shows one third of parents in the North East admit to not using a car seat for their child in the past and almost a quarter admit they’ve driven without a car seat when switching to another car and forgetting the seat.
The research also almost half (49%) of parents in the North East are unaware that new booster seat regulations are coming into force next year. Of the 51% of parents that said they were aware of the new car seat rules, 87% were incorrect.
Mike Bristow, from Road Safety Charity Brake, said:
“It’s a really alarming statistic, this is someone’s life we’re talking about and yes they may be expensive and yes they may be complex but they’re there to save lives and it’s really important to the people of the North East to put their children in the correct car seat.
“If people in the North East are thinking that it’s ok if it’s just a short journey or it’s just around the corner they really need to think about how quickly and incident can happen on the roads.”
Confused.com’s motoring editor Amanda Stretton says:
“The current regulations are understandably hard to understand and the new changes may make it even trickier for parents to keep their children safe.
“The fact that car seats bought before the law change will still be acceptable to use sends mixed messages. The Government needs to simplify the messaging around backless car seat use so there is no misunderstanding over what is and is not safe.”