Child Seat Safety Even in Portsmouth
Portsmouth City Council are holding free events to check and fit child car seats.
Each event runs from 10am-3.30pm in the car park of one of the city's major supermarkets. There are free booklets and stickers for kids and leaflets for parents.
- 8 July: Asda, Fratton
- 9 September: Sainsbury's, Farlington
- 7 October: Morrisons, Eastern Road
Last year the city council had a 90% fail rate on the seats that they checked. Most were fitted incorrectly but many were incompatible with the model of car.
This could be because parents had changed cars and not checked to see that the seat would fit correctly or, as in many cases, the store had sold an incompatible seat for the car.
TOP TIPS
Do...
- Make sure that children under 3 years use an appropriate child restraint, refer to above table
- Ensure that all available restraints are in use.
- Restrained in the back is best, but restrained in the front is better than no restraint at all
- Use the appropriate seat for the weight of your child and children don't play with the fastenings
- Always wear a restraint, even on the shortest journeys
- Ensure the lap part of the belt is positioned as low as possible over the hips, not across the soft stomach area, and is pulled tight
- Check before buying a child seat that it will fit your car, not all will
- Remember that pregnant women can still wear seat belts safely, if worn correctly
- Remember it is the responsibility of the driver to ensure children under 14 are wearing a suitable restraint
Don't...
- Allow a child to sit on an adult's lap, even if the adult is restrained - you would never be able to hold onto them in a 30mph crash
- Allow two people to use the same restraint
- Allow an adult belt to pass across a child's neck
- Put a rear facing child seat in a front seat with a passenger airbag
- Use an ordinary cushion to raise a child using an adult restraint