Drivers flout child seat laws

Child safety seats reduced risk of fatality by 71 per cent in the event of an accident, yet new research by insurer LV has discovered that one in six drivers flout the child car seat law.Currently it is a legal requirement is that children under 12 and shorter than 4’ 5” must use a child or booster seat.Child safety seat significantly reduce the risk of serious or fatal injury and also help to protect the driver or passenger in the front seat should the car be hint from behind when a backseat passenger can be thrown forward.Despite that it has been two years since the laws were introduced; LV research discovered many drivers were ignorant of their legal duty, 21 per cent of those who did not comply with the law saying they were unaware of the requirements.Even worse, one in ten of those say they know the law, disregard them anyway and don't bother to fit safety seats.Equally research by Direct Line Insurance in association with road safety charity Brake found more than 20 per cent of parents believe you do not need to replace a child seat after a low speed collision. The insurer issued a reminder to parents that while there may be no obvious signs of damage; a crash can seriously undermine the structural integrity of a child seat and must be replaced.Both LV and Direct Line will automatically replace a child seat after an accident.For more information on safety requirements, visit www.brake.org.uk

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