In this month’s Motoring blog we continue our discussion regarding current seatbelt regulations.

In our motoring blog last month, we considered the current seatbelt law relating to a child under the age of 3 years travelling in a taxi or a private hire vehicle.

We now consider a driver’s personal responsibility for the wearing of seatbelts by both passenger adults and children over the age of 14 years and also for children between the ages of 3 years and up to 14 years.

First of all, anyone travelling in the vehicle who is over 14 years of age including, of course, the driver, has a personal responsibility to ensure that they wear a seat belt.

However, for children under 14 years, it is the driver’s responsibility to ensure a child is suitably restrained by either a seatbelt or by an approved child restraint seat.

For children aged 3 years and over, a child restraint must be used until they attain their 12th birthday or are 135cm in height.

Children aged 12 to 13 years of age or over 135cm in height must use an adult seatbelt, if fitted to the vehicle.

If your vehicle was not originally fitted with seat belts, for example if it is considered to be a classic car, and no seatbelts have subsequently been fitted in the vehicle, then the driver must not carry any children under the age of 3 years at all and any child travelling in the vehicle who is over 3 years of age must sit in the back seats.(determining if your vehicle is a classic vehicle is not a given and you must specifically check this for your own vehicle)

Here is a short summary of the seatbelt laws relating to children.

Children under 3 years must be seated in a suitable car seat with restraints. The only exception is when travelling in a taxi, when they do not need to be restrained. A child under 3 years of age must not be carried in a reward facing baby seat in the front of the vehicle if there is an active front passenger airbag in that vehicle. The airbag must be deactivated or the baby seat fixed in the rear of the vehicle.

Children aged 3-12 years (or up to 1.35m tall) must use a suitable child restraint, such as a car seat with a harness or a booster seat. They may use an adult seatbelt without a child seat when in a taxi or minicab where a child restraint is not available in that vehicle.

Children aged 12 years and above (or more than 1.35m tall) must wear an adult seatbelt.

A driver can be fined up to £500 if not wearing a seatbelt when driving, and for failing to ensure that a child under the age of 14 years, travelling in the vehicle, is correctly seated and properly restrained.

For free initial advice upon any driving matter contact our motoring department on 01606592159.