Car safety restraints

Buying and fitting Child Restraints

Children under 6 months

Children between 6 months and 4 years

Children between 4 years and 7 years

Sitting in the back

Seat belts and pregnant women

Resources

To be as safe as possible when travelling in cars, children and adults need to be using restraints or seatbelts that are properly fitted and suited to the age and size of the person.

The restraint (baby capsule, safety seat or booster seat) needs to be the correct size and design for the infant or child. Children have been harmed when riding in a car restraint that is too large for them.

Continue to place a young child in the appropriate car safety restraint until the child reaches the recommended age or weighs the maximum amount recommended for that restraint. It would be safer for children who are small for their age to use booster seats until they are older and heavier.

Please check laws in your specific state or territory.

The driver is responsible for ensuring that children under 16 years are wearing their seatbelt, or have been strapped correctly into a restraint.

Buying and fitting Child Restraints

All baby capsules, safety seats and booster seats should be correctly and securely fitted to the car and straps adjusted to fit the child. The type of restraint used depends on the child's weight, size and development.

Laws about car safety restraints apply to all cars, station wagons, four wheel drive vehicles and minibuses. An exemption applies to certain vehicles including taxis and buses which have more than 12 seats.

Children under 6 months

From birth to when the baby is 6 months old the baby must be restrained in rear facing baby capsule.

Before a baby is moved into a safety seat, the baby should also be able to sit, and control her head.

Babies are not safe when being held by another person. The person's arms will not be strong enough to hold the baby in an accident.

Warning!

Do not use a rear facing (facing towards the back of the car) infant restraint in the front seat, or any other seat where there is an airbag. The inflating bag can harm, or even kill a baby.

Children between 6 months and 4 years

From six months until the age of four years children need to be restrained in either a rearward or forward facing child restraint (e.g. child safety seat).

Toddlers and seatbelts

Some toddlers will not stay in their safety seat when travelling in the car.

They continually undo the belt or harness. There are some devices to prevent this happening but these are not recommended as seatbelts have to be easy to undo in the case of an emergency, and they may cause extra injuries in a collision.

It is important for parents to be very firm about children staying in their restraint.

If your child undoes the seatbelt, stop the car and tell her firmly that the car is not allowed to go unless the seatbelt is done up.

You may have to persist but it is important that she learns that undoing the seatbelt is not allowed and that you will not drive if anyone's seatbelt is undone.

Children between 4 years and 7 years

From four years until the age of seven children need to be restrained in either a forward facing child restraint or booster seat restrained by a correctly adjusted and fastened seatbelt or child safety harness.

A child safety harness which has 5 straps (ie includes a crutch strap) is another option for children from about 3½ to 8 years (14-32 kg).

Sitting in the back

Sitting in the rear seat of a car rather than the front seat reduces the risk of child injury or death by more than 35% in the event of a crash.

The new laws also deal with the issue of children sitting in the front seat of a vehicle.

• Children up to four years of age must be restrained in the rear of the vehicle (where the vehicle has two or more rows of seats).
• Children aged between four and seven years will not be permitted to sit in the front seat unless all other seating positions are already occupied by children under seven.

Seat belts and pregnant women

Every person travelling in a motor vehicle must use an approved restraint where one is available, properly fastened and adjusted. This includes pregnant women no matter what stage of pregnancy.

Resources

The Department of Transport in your state or territory