The importance of child restraints

PARENTS play a vital role in ensuring their children are safe while in a vehicle, and in that light parents are urged to take note of the new regulation, in the National Road Traffic Act, that aims to protect children by the use of the child car seat.

The use of a child car seat for all children under the age of three was made compulsory in May of last year, and while it is law to use child car seats for children under the age of three, this does not mean that adults should ignore the need to restrain older children.

Make sure they are restrained appropriately.

What is the appropriate restraint for your child? ER24 offers the following advice:

• Infants should ride rear-facing at least until they are a year old.

• Once they exceed the weight or height limit set by the manufacturer of the infant safety seat, they should continue to ride rear-facing in a convertible safety seat. It is best to keep toddlers rear-facing as long as possible.

• When they have outgrown this seat, they should use a forward-facing safety seat with a full harness. This should be used until they exceed the weight and/or height limit set by the manufacturer of the seat.

• Children who have outgrown a convertible safety seat should use a booster seat until they are at least four feet tall.

• Children who are tall enough to wear an adult seat belt should still ride in the back seat until they are 13 years old. Adjust the seat belt so the lap belt crosses the child’s upper thighs and the diagonal belt crosses the upper chest at a point between the neck and shoulder.

Also remember, it is vital that you make use of a seat belt as well.

Failure to do so could result in you being fined or, in the case of a collision, you possibly sustaining critical or fatal injuries.

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