What are the laws on carrying children in cars?

Let's look at the regulations and requirements for carrying babies and children in cars, we all have a natural instinct to protect our precious little ones with the latest and best in car seats and baby carriers but what does the law say regarding how we transport our kids.

Well for starters, if you have a child from 0 up to 3 years old, the law requires that in both the front and back seats of the car your child should be in the correct child restraint for their age and weight. On top of that if you have a rear-facing child seat, it can only be carried in the front seat if the car does not have an active front airbag. The preferred car seat for very small babies, up to the age of 12 months or 13 kg is a rear facing car seat as this gives added protection to the head, neck and spine in the event of a bump.

The only exception to the above for children under 3 years old is if they are travelling in in a licensed taxi or licensed hire car and a child restraint is not available. In this instance the child must travel in the rear of the car. This has been introduced for practical rather than safety reasons and consideration should be made to ways of ensuring that your child is as safe as it can be in the situation.

Once your child reaches 3 years of age and until they reach either 12 years old or a height of 135 cm or above then they must use a suitable car seat in both the front and rear seats. There are only 3 exceptions to this and in these instances the child should always use an adult seat belt instead:

If the child is travelling in a licensed taxi or private hire vehicle
If the child is travelling a short distance and the journey is of unexpected necessity or
If there are two other childen occupying car seats already in the car which prevents the use of a third

Plus a child of 3 years old or over may travel unrestrained in the rear of a car if there are no seat belts fitted.

Children over the age of 12 years old or who are over 135 cm must use the car seat belt whether they travel in the front or rear seats.

So, who is responsible for ensuring that the occupants of a car are suitably seated and belted? Well, until a passenger is 14 years of age, it's down to the driver each and every time so the next time you are out and about with little ones make sure that they are safe and sound by strapping them into a Maxi Cosi CabrioFix, Maxi Cosi Pebble or Maxi Cosi Tobi.

Once a passenger reaches the age of 14, they must, whether travelling in the front or rear seats, wear an adult seat belt wherever one is available for use. The main difference here is that it is the individual passenger who becomes responsible for ensuring that they wear an adult seat belt and no longer the responsibility of the driver of the vehicle.

So what if you are carrying more passengers than you have seat belts, well legally this is allowed but is it worth it considering that up to 15 front seat passengers a year are killed by an unrestrained back seat passenger flying forward in a collision. If you really must carry passenger that are unrestrained by a seat belt, then make sure that the heaviest passengers are restrained.

Penalties for not wearing a seat belt yourself or for allowing a child to be unrestrained when there are seat belts available is up to £500. On top of this if you or a child is not using appropriate restraints then this can affect any claims you might make on your car insurance policy.

Finally, you could also incur damages in a civil proceeding if, as a responsible adult, you failed to secure someone else's child in your car.