Kids in cars And seatbelt law.

statto

Can anyone settle a question I have - at what age are kids allowed to sit in the front seat of a car? My friend says 12 but I am not sure if there's any restriction. Also is there a legal requirement to have a booster seat for kids under 4 in the back seat.

If any has any information or can point me in the right direction, I would be very grateful.

Thanks.

Archeron

statto wrote:

Can anyone settle a question I have - at what age are kids allowed to sit in the front seat of a car? My friend says 12 but I am not sure if there's any restriction. Also is there a legal requirement to have a booster seat for kids under 4 in the back seat.

If any has any information or can point me in the right direction, I would be very grateful.

Thanks.

Heard someone talking about this on the radio the other day, they said theres no age specified, and its more down to the kids physical size. if they're big enough to be able to safely sit in the front with the seat belt on properly, then thats enough.

statto

Just checked out the governments oasis information web site. It gives a mixed message.

On this page it says says under 17 without seatbelts gets you penalty points
http://www.oasis.gov.ie/transport/motoring/driving_offences.html#id3142625

and on this page it says that kids can be exempt from wearing seatbelts
http://www.oasis.gov.ie/transport/motoring/using_seatbelts_when_motoring.html

MrPudding

statto wrote:

Can anyone settle a question I have - at what age are kids allowed to sit in the front seat of a car? My friend says 12 but I am not sure if there's any restriction. Also is there a legal requirement to have a booster seat for kids under 4 in the back seat.

If any has any information or can point me in the right direction, I would be very grateful.

Thanks.

From Oasis

The Gov wrote:

Children and seatbelts

0-4 years

Babies and children under 4 may occupy a forward facing front seat of a vehicle, only if they use an appropriate child restraint. This requirement applies to all of the vehicles listed above, irrespective of when they were registered - as long as they are equipped with safety belts. (Again, a child restraint is a device designed for use by a child weighing 36 kg or less). The restraint is fitted directly to a suitable belt or is held in place by the action of a safety belt, which in turn restrains movement in the event of an accident or incident. An appropriate child restraint is one appropriate to the weight of the child. The weight range is indicated on the child restraint.
4-17 years

Children over 4 years of age may occupy a forward facing front seat of a vehicle only if they are using a safety belt or an appropriate child restraint.



A person aged 12 years or more who is under 150 cm in height is not required to use a seatbelt even if this is provided. They are of course free to wear the belt but people under this height are outside the limits of the safety belt design parameters, so there is a possibility that a safety belt could be injurious to them in some circumstances. For this reason, the law allows them to choose for themselves to belt up or not to belt up. This is irrespective of whether they are sitting in the front or back of the vehicle.


The requirement in relation to rear seats in cars takes account of larger families in the following way - where 3 or more children under the age of 15 are travelling in a car, the requirement to wear a safety belt or use an appropriate child restraint is complied with, in respect of the rear seat, if every reasonable effort is made to buckle in as many of the rear seat passengers as possible. No doubling up on a front seat is permissible but if, for example, 4 children occupy a rear bench seat designed for 3 adults, it would not be possible for all 4 to be buckled in unless the vehicle has been modified. While it is not unreasonable for a vehicle owner to make such a modification, it might, perhaps, be considered unreasonable for the law to expect that such a modification would have been carried out in every case where a family of 2 adults and 4 children use a standard family car.

From the exceptions section

The Gov wrote:

Exemptions from requirement to wear seatbelts


........
...........
7. Babies and children under 4 years in back seats only that do not have appropriate child restraints fitted are also exempt from the requirements. Again, the responsible adult might decide to place a child in a child restraint system that is, perhaps, designed for a different weight bracket, judging this to be preferable to the child being un-restrained. The law does not prevent the use of good judgment in such a case. Neither does it, however, oblige us to force a child to use an inappropriate child restraint.

It doesn't look like there is any specific age requirement though I think 12 is generally considered to be a good age. If the car has airbags there is a chance a small child, sitting in a front seat as an adult would, could be killed by an airbag deployment.

On your second question it appears that there is no requirement to any useany restraints for a child in the back.

MrP

dts

Crazy country!
Whatever the law states common sense says that all people in a car should belt up. If the kid is too small for the seatbelt then get a booster. Apart from that why should it matter whether its a front or rear seat.

MrPudding

dts wrote:

Apart from that why should it matter whether its a front or rear seat.

Because front passenger seat airbags can kill small children. That seems like a good enough reason to me? Also, in a car with no airbags, would you prefer your small childs head to bounce off the dashboard or the back of the front seat?

MrP

dts

Why would an airbag kill an eight year old but not an adult?
Why would the kid hit the windscreen if it is wareing a seatbelt?

Sleipnir

dts wrote:

Why would an airbag kill an eight year old but not an adult?
Why would the kid hit the windscreen if it is wareing a seatbelt?

Because an adult can take a greater impact than a child.
A child is lower and an airbag is designed for the height of an adult. If the airbag fired on a child, their forehead would hit the lower edge of the airbag forcing their head back and flexing the neck.

As kids are very much lighter they have a tendancy to "pop out" of the seatbelt and hit the windscreen or the seatbelt catches their throat and can crush the windpipe.

MrPudding

Sleipnir wrote:

Because an adult can take a greater impact than a child.
A child is lower and an airbag is designed for the height of an adult. If the airbag fired on a child, their forehead would hit the lower edge of the airbag forcing their head back and flexing the neck.

As kids are very much lighter they have a tendancy to "pop out" of the seatbelt and hit the windscreen or the seatbelt catches their throat and can crush the windpipe.

In addition childrens bones tend to be softer and not fully developed and therefore at greater risk of being deformed by impact. This is particulary dangerous in the head as deformation of the skull or facial bone can cause serious additional injuries.

MrP