kids and booster seats

M cebee

whats the rule on children(not babies or toddlers) and seats
I had a look at rsa site but I cant follow it

Anjobe

If they're less than 1.50 m tall and weigh less than 36 Kg then they must use an age/size appropriate child seat, booster seat or booster cushion.

RootX

According to the RSA website, the following rules apply(or should apply anyways)

Rearward facing baby seat
Weight range: for babies up to 13 kgs (29 lbs)
General age range: from birth to 12-15 months
Seat details: provide protection for baby's head neck and spine

Forward facing child seat
Weight range: for kids 9-18 kgs (20-40 lbs)
General age range: 9 months - 4 years

Booster seat
Weight range: 15-25 kgs (33-55 lbs)
General age range: 4-6 years

Booster cushion
Weight range: 22-36 kgs (48-79 lbs)
General age range: 6-12 years
Seat details: You must use the seatbelt in conjunction with the booster cushion

Are you looking for something more specific?

Yakuza

Just to add (I got this info confirmed by speaking to the RSA directly) that if you have 3 kids and the outer two rear seats are occupied by booster seats / cushions etc then it is perfectly *legal* to have the 3rd child in the middle just use the seatbelt provided. Obviously it's not suitable for newborns or smaller kids but it suits us fine as my 10-year-old occupies that place. It won't be long until she's over the 150cm so whether she should have a booster seat will soon be moot. If she goes in the front seat she still uses a cushion, of course.

I think the limit is 135cm in other countries (definitely Spain where I do a fair bit of driving) and perhaps the UK too. As usual, we're out of step.

unkel

Yakuza wrote: »

if you have 3 kids and the outer two rear seats are occupied by booster seats / cushions etc then it is perfectly *legal* to have the 3rd child in the middle just use the seatbelt provided.

:eek:

Of course it wouldn't be legal! And it wouldn't be safe for your child either. You need to buy a bigger car, dude.

Yakuza

unkel wrote: »

:eek:

Of course it wouldn't be legal!

Sorry Unkel, it's perfectly legal. See http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/Road_Traffic_Law/Seat_Belts

Children who are not old or tall enough to use adult belts can do so in certain circumstances. These are:

• In a taxi or privately hired vehicle in which the proper restraint is unavailable;
• Where two occupied child seats prevent the fitting of a third restraint;
• If a short journey is necessary and the correct restraint is unavailable

I know the above site is a UK one, but I rang the RSA and confirmed it with them.

unkel wrote: »

:eek:
And it wouldn't be safe for your child either. You need to buy a bigger car, dude.

My car is perfectly fine and safe for our purposes, the belt comes across her chest, nowhere near her neck (it's one of those that comes down from the roof, goes through a loop in the seat and then into two anchor points in the car).

I also drive in the UK and Spain, where the limit is 135cm, so she's both legal and safe there, yet here it's deemed "unsafe"

unkel

Yakuza wrote: »

It won't be long until she's over the 150cm.

Apologies, I missed this bit that she is only just under 150cm. Not unsafe so

About being legal, those points are clearly exceptions for exceptional circumstances. None of them are safe for a small child

And I'm not sure why the limit is 135cm in other countries, without a booster, a child of that height will get choked by the seatbelt in a crash...

Yakuza

unkel wrote: »

None of them are safe for a small child

Agreed. And for the record, herself travelled in with a booster seat in the middle until she turned 10 at the start of the year (two boosters and a full child seat do fit in my car, but it's a pain in the hole (which we put up with until she went over 10 and 140cm!) to clip them all in.

Bleating Lamb

Know it's an old thread but thought it was relevant to my question....
Maybe it is just my me having read it somewhere and picking it up wrong ....but is it not illegal for a child under 12 to sit in front seat of a car?

Thanks for any replies.

seamus

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Know it's an old thread but thought it was relevant to my question....
Maybe it is just my me having read it somewhere and picking it up wrong ....but is it not illegal for a child under 12 to sit in front seat of a car?

Thanks for any replies.

No. Any child is allowed sit in the front seat of a car provided that they are appropriately restrained in a seat or booster, depending on their age.

Children in rearward-facing seats cannot be in a front seat with a passenger airbag active.

There used to be an old thing about children under 17 not being allowed in the front, I'm not sure where it came from. Anytime my Dad had me up front he'd tell me to try make myself look really tall if we passed a Garda.
Perhaps when seat belts weren't mandatory, there was a minimum age limit for sitting up front.

Marcusm

unkel wrote: »

:eek:

Of course it wouldn't be legal! And it wouldn't be safe for your child either. You need to buy a bigger car, dude.

The equivalent rule in Ireland is reg 7(4) of S.I. No. 240/2006 - European Communities (Compulsory use of Safety Belts and Child Restraint Systems in Motor Vehicles) Regulations 2006. However, it's not a blanket exemption, it applies only to the extent that the outer two child seats preclude the use of a third one in the middle.

Only just realised the is responding to the old part of the thread. Will leave it in case the reference to the precise rule is of use to anyone.

grogi

RootX wrote: »

According to the RSA website, the following rules apply(or should apply anyways)

Rearward facing baby seat
Weight range: for babies up to 13 kgs (29 lbs)
General age range: from birth to 12-15 months
Seat details: provide protection for baby's head neck and spine

Forward facing child seat
Weight range: for kids 9-18 kgs (20-40 lbs)
General age range: 9 months - 4 years

Booster seat
Weight range: 15-25 kgs (33-55 lbs)
General age range: 4-6 years

Booster cushion
Weight range: 22-36 kgs (48-79 lbs)
General age range: 6-12 years
Seat details: You must use the seatbelt in conjunction with the booster cushion

Are you looking for something more specific?

I used rear facing seat up to 25kg... Was I breaking the law?

Flippyfloppy

grogi wrote: »

I used rear facing seat up to 25kg... Was I breaking the law?

That post was written before extended rearward facing seats were used widely! If the seat you used specified up to 25kgs then you're fine.