New Laws for Children in Cars

New traffic laws come into force in Spain on 1st October, with the main objective of protecting children in cars.

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From now on, all children measuring 135 cm in height or less must ride in the rear seats of a vehicle, irrespective of their age, and in addition to the requirements of the correct seat being provided appropriate to their size and weight.

There are a number of exceptions to the rule, for example, when the vehicle does not have rear seats, when all rear seats are already occupied by others under the same characteristics, and where it is not possible to install approved child restraints in those rear seats. These are the only occasions when children may occupy a front seat, but they must always use the restraint system approved for their height and weight in addition to the installed seatbelt.

The change to the law in Spain has been prompted on account of the DGT seeing growing concerns for the safety of children in vehicles. In 2014, 2 of the 14 children under 12 years of age who were killed whilst travelling in vehicles were not wearing any safety device at the time of the accident. It was the same for 9 out of the 82 children who were seriously injured, they too were not wearing any kind of restraint.

It is recommended that you continue to use appropriate and approved child restraint system until the child reaches 150 cm in height. Once a child is taller than 150 cm, then they must use the vehicle seat belt.

It is important to note that it is the responsibility of the adults transporting children to ensure their safety, as well as their own.

For more details, pick up The Courier newspaper tomorrow which has full details of all of the amendments and the requirements.