We have given attention to changes in seatbelt legislation and the need to always have our children buckled in – but the need for seatbelts and child restraints is best illustrated with the above video!
To completely understand the charges here, one has to understand what the definition of a child and an adult is under the regulations and the following applies:
An adult is a person over the age of 14 years or taller than one comma five metres; and a child is a person between the age of three years and 14 years, except where such person is taller than one comma five metres.
With respect to child restraints, the regulations state that where it is available in the motor vehicle a child restraint must be used for children and if one is not available then a seatbelt must be used.
Regulation 213(7) states that “if no seat, equipped with a seatbelt is available in a motor vehicle the driver of the motor vehicle operated on a public road shall ensure that a child shall, if such motor vehicle is equipped with a rear seat, be seated on such rear seat.” This means that by law, no person who is a child between 3 and 14 years old may sit in a seat that does not have a seat belt if there is one available. So if you have a toddler who is 37 months old then this can be translated to mean that such a child must sit in the front seat which does have a seatbelt if there are none in the rear and there is no passenger in the front seat next to you. A seat belt for a child that small would probably have no effect at halting them from flying into the dashboard. However, this regulation does, by pure innuendo, suggest that a child must sit in the back and not on mommy or daddy’s lap!
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