New Car Seat legislation

parsi

Some of you may be like me and surprised to hear that new legislation came in on 13 Septmebr regarding child seats. I had heard all about the UK legislation but nothing about the Irish version.

Kept very quiet.. maybe the ministers were too busy yapping about the Ryder Cup...

http://www.rsa.ie/childsafetyincars/procontent/Home/Home_Page/index.html

Nevyn

It was all over the various programs on Newstalk all day friday.

parsi

It was actually via an Irish Times article yesterday which referenced Sean Moncrief's program on Friday that I heard about it.

Flyers etc would have been an idea...

Nevyn

Flyers ?
IT was on local and national broadcasters for a whole day and on the national news and in print media and you are complaining ?

Wishbone Ash

I went into a very well known toy store to buy a booster seat as we sometimes have other children in the car. I managed to get the last one. The shop assistant said it was odd that they were 'flying' out the door lately. I said it was probably due to the new legislation. She didn't know what I was referring to and they are supposed to be trained in all aspects of child seat safety etc.. :eek:

parsi

Thaedydal wrote:

Flyers ?
IT was on local and national broadcasters for a whole day and on the national news and in print media and you are complaining ?

Yes I am. This day of publicity you refer to was

(a) 9 days after implementation,
(b) all about the fact that there wasn't any publicity (according to the IT article).

My young fella is 7 and he is the only one in his class that has a booster. He's one of the taller kids. I'm sure that other parents are driving around blissfully ignorant of the new legislation. I heard more about the UK implementing it than I did about our own implementation.

Would it have been hard to mention it in the letters that issued regarding the early childcare supplements ?

If its such an important issue that they felt the need to strengthen the legislation then it should have been given the publicity it deserves.

professore

Thaedydal wrote:

Flyers ?
IT was on local and national broadcasters for a whole day and on the national news and in print media and you are complaining ?

You only mentioned Newstalk ... I don't even know what that is - I only listen to TodayFM. Are you sure it's law here? or just an EU directive that has yet to be implemented? Both my wife and I have been trying to find out for days with no success. Web links please.Just saw the link now

scrattletrap

Yes it is law here, a friend of mine showed me a flier she got about it, I think she got it in a newspaper, I haven't received one yet. I am going to have to get two of these for the rare times that my sons travel by car, my nine year old will be pleased :eek: they are for up to the age of twelve!!

professore

150 cm? That's 4.9 feet - I know adults that height. Do they have to have booster seats as well? If not why not? What about obese / freakishly tall younger kids?

IMHO 11 / 12 years old is a bit over the top. I'm all for safety, always belt up everyone in the car and use car seat until child is 3 or so, but this is verging on the ridiculous. I would say 6 y.o is more sensible. My daughter is 8, about 4 ft tall and a seatbelt fits her fine - if she sits on a booster her head is hitting the roof. There's no choking neck syndrome etc.

I am sure some of the PC people on here will say "but it's the law" in a similar tone to many Germans during the Third Reich.

Pikasso

This is going beyond ridiculous! Imagine picking your child up from school and they ask to bring a friend or friends home to play. Do you need to have 3 child booster seats in your car?
I think that it has deliberately been kept low key in Ireland because our government know damn well that they can't enforce the laws that are already there. Every week there are more and more laws, not enough Gardai to enforce them, a log-jammed court system and chock-a-block jails.
The first I heard of this law was here on Boards. I read the papers and listen to the radio everyday - I never heard of it. I heard lots about the mobile phone ban in cars and still see people everyday ignoring it (especially women!!!!), but child car seats for under 12's? Ludicrous!

Victor

An e-mail I sent to my contact in the RSA.

Hi,

http://www.rsa.ie/childsafetyincars/procontent/Home/Home_Page/index.html

I see that the leaflet on child safety in cars is available in 6 langauges, however it isn't available in English. I realise the webpage is in English, but it might be useful for people to be able to save the English PDF on their computers and/or print it. For the rabid flag wavers, perhaps reducing the size of the flag and increasing the size of the text may be necessary.

There is some discussion on the matter here: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054994621 Perhaps additional information would be useful. I use the nom de plume "Victor" on boards.ie

Victor

CLADA

Pikasso wrote:

Imagine picking your child up from school and they ask to bring a friend or friends home to play. Do you need to have 3 child booster seats in your car?

Yes.

In the event of an accident it also saves you explaining to the parents of your childs friend how he/she sustained their injuries.

Pikasso

CLADA wrote:

Yes.

In the event of an accident it also saves you explaining to the parents of your childs friend how he/she sustained their injuries.

That's a relief! No explanations needed then. "Here's your child. We were in an accident. Your child was injured but they were on a booster seat so no explanations are neccessary."

littlebug

"What other exemptions apply to private cars?
Ireland has availed of an option to allow a child of three years of age or over to wear an adult safety belt in the rear of a passenger car or light goods vehicle (LGV), where two child restraints are already fitted, and it is not possible to fit another child restraint.

What do I do if I have more children in the rear of a car than there are seatbelts installed?
Ireland has availed of an exemption until May 2009 which allows children to sit unrestrained in the rear of a vehicle where seatbelts are not available. This concession, used responsibly, is intended to facilitate families with cars where the number of children is greater than the seats available for them. "

Excerpt from http://www.rsa.ie/childsafetyincars/procontent/FAQs/FAQs/Navigation.html

This appears to be a bit of a get out clause.

I'm still a bit confused. Some mornings I have my 2 in their seats and also leave a neighbours child off at school. There is only a lap belt in the middle of my back seat. Is it safe (or indeed legal) to leave her there or should I put her on a booster cushion in the front passenger seat (no air bag). She's 5.

P

Ayla

I for one applauded the arrival of the new seat booster administration. I heard about it initially on the "Last Word" program (TodayFM), and I thought it was about time some new regs came into play.

When I'm at work I sit above a GP's office and I have been appauled at how many parents allow their young kids to run amuck throughout the car. That's dangerous, not just for the children, but also for the rest of the passengers (ie: what happens if the driver has to hit the brakes or make a sudden swerve?)

So I've been thinking some sort of restraint regs are necessary. That brings into debate the safety of rear-seatbelts for kids. I've heard that the seatbelts are designed for adults, which is where the 4'9" restriction comes into play. If the child doesn't reach the right height, then if there's an accident they have a higher probability of getting seriously hurt by the belt. Thus the booster seats.

I for one (and my husband for a second) don't have any problems with these new regs. It's about time. As parents our first priority should be our child's safety, so I don't see why we're quibbling about when or how the message has gotten out.

If anything we need to be doing anything possible to make sure the new regs are enforced. Wouldn't you feel better knowing your child is just as safe in someone else's car as they are in yours? Let's make sure our priorities stay in order.

parsi

But similar regs have always been there but poorly enforced. We have two cars and both cars have full sets of seats (the attic has all the sets they've grown out of). We didn't want to take the chance (ever) of a seat being in "the other car".

What I'm complaining about is that these new regs have received such little publicity bearing in mind their vital importance.

Pikasso

What about buses and taxis? Does this now mean that taxis can refuse to take children? :eek: This can get really messy!!!

magnumlady

Trouble is that the majority of people that will adhere to this law are the ones that have already been using seatblets for their kids.
What about all the parents that let their children fly all over the car, never put a seat belt anywhere near them.
I'd like to see the laws do something about that. (although I've never seen a Garda car anywhere near my childrens school).

professore

Ayla wrote:

I for one applauded the arrival of the new seat booster administration. I heard about it initially on the "Last Word" program (TodayFM), and I thought it was about time some new regs came into play.

When I'm at work I sit above a GP's office and I have been appauled at how many parents allow their young kids to run amuck throughout the car. That's dangerous, not just for the children, but also for the rest of the passengers (ie: what happens if the driver has to hit the brakes or make a sudden swerve?)

So I've been thinking some sort of restraint regs are necessary. That brings into debate the safety of rear-seatbelts for kids. I've heard that the seatbelts are designed for adults, which is where the 4'9" restriction comes into play. If the child doesn't reach the right height, then if there's an accident they have a higher probability of getting seriously hurt by the belt. Thus the booster seats.

I for one (and my husband for a second) don't have any problems with these new regs. It's about time. As parents our first priority should be our child's safety, so I don't see why we're quibbling about when or how the message has gotten out.

If anything we need to be doing anything possible to make sure the new regs are enforced. Wouldn't you feel better knowing your child is just as safe in someone else's car as they are in yours? Let's make sure our priorities stay in order.

I agree completely that kids should be restrained properly and mine ALWAYS wear seat belts. It's just that my 2 older kids of 6 and 8 are big enough for the adult seat belts - they fit them fine. It's a hard sell to get them to use booster seats - particularly as I said before that my 8 year old's head almost touches the roof when sitting on a booster seat - is THAT not dangerous? I believe in discipline but not in humiliating my kids for no good reason.

Also the message HAS NOT gotten out to a lot of people despite what some of you are saying. I have heard a LOT more about Bertie's financial indiscretions and the Ryder Cup than this law.

magnumlady wrote:

Trouble is that the majority of people that will adhere to this law are the ones that have already been using seatblets for their kids.
What about all the parents that let their children fly all over the car, never put a seat belt anywhere near them.
I'd like to see the laws do something about that. (although I've never seen a Garda car anywhere near my childrens school).

Agree - they should get 10 points on licence for a first offence and jail sentences for repeat offenders.

What do I do if I have more children in the rear of a car than there are seatbelts installed?
Ireland has availed of an exemption until May 2009 which allows children to sit unrestrained in the rear of a vehicle where seatbelts are not available. This concession, used responsibly, is intended to facilitate families with cars where the number of children is greater than the seats available for them. "

Excerpt from http://www.rsa.ie/childsafetyincars/procontent/FAQs/FAQs/Navigation.html

Complete farce as usual. What do you do? Put the ugly child or the one that's not too bright, or better still the neighbour's kid as the unrestrained one. What a joke of a law.

leeroybrown

With regard to the publicity, the first I or anyone I asked about it had heard was when everyone started giving out on the Radio/TV about the lack of publicity. I knew about it because I drove to work for a change (I normally cycle). Even someone I know who has kids and already owned booster seats for safety reasons prior to the introduction didn't know it had become law. There was a lot of publicity but it was because most people got home some evening to find out that they had been breaking the law without receiving any decent publicity of the change.

Anyone who thinks the exemption is a farce should remember that there are families out there who will not be able to get their kids to school and hold down a job without breaking the law otherwise.

Victor

Pikasso wrote:

What about buses and taxis? Does this now mean that taxis can refuse to take children? :eek: This can get really messy!!!

Taxis have a temporary exemption.

Buses in accidents act very differently to cars and seat belts are less important than other measures, although all school buses are all getting seat belts and I think its heading that way for coaches also.

FatherTed

Here in the US, (at least in my state CT), it is not so much an Age-based rule but a height/weight rule, i.e. kids must be in a booster seat until they are 4'9" /80 pounds. My oldest 2 kids are 7 and still have the booster seats and will for a couple more years.

I don't know why anyone would compromise the safety of their child just because they're lazy.

leeroybrown

The upper age group is governed by weight/height not age. Their attempts to use age as an example by stating that 'children under 12 must' appear to have confused a lot of people. The following is a quote off the official informational website:

"Children aged 3 years or over who are under 150cms in height and weighing less than 36 kilograms (i.e. generally children up to 11/12 years old) must use the correct child seat, booster seat or booster cushion when travelling in cars or goods vehicles"

Unfortunately so is the following and it is more prominently placed:

"Under the new EU law all children under the age of 11/12 must be in an appropriate child car seat. No exceptions, no excuses."

SarahMc

It does not have to be a booster seat/cushion. Seat belt adaptors will do, providing they conform to CE/ECE standards and are age appropriate (label should tell you).

parsi

I have my doubts about that . The RSA site doesn't mention them and I recall earlier in the year looking into them and the only info that I could establish was that there wasn't a certfied seat-belt adaptor design.

I did decide to use the strap from a britax booster seat - I haven't used it yet as I don't carry all three in my car.

Now if you can point me to an appropriate link I'd be very happy !