Is your child in the right car seat?

Porirua City Council

Please ensure every child is correctly buckled, for every car ride – it keeps them safer!

As the driver, you are legally responsible for all children under the age of 15

The type of child restraint, or safety belt, that you must use depends on the age of the child. Approved child restraints include baby capsules, convertible car seats, booster seats or child safety harnesses.

Regardless of age, children shorter than 148cm are safest in a child restraint.

In the past 12 months, 30 children under the age of 15 lost their lives in car crashes on New Zealand roads.

Using an adult safety belt on a child can cause serious injuries or death

Safety belts are designed for adult bodies and only safe for children when:
• the child can sit upright against the back of the seat with their knees comfortably bent over the edge of the seat cushion
• the diagonal part of the safety belt crosses the child’s shoulder and breast bone, not the neck
• the lap part of the safety belt crosses low down on the child’s lap, touching their thighs, and is not up around their stomach

Passenger airbags in the front seat can seriously injure or kill children
Never put a baby or child in a rear-facing child restraint into the front seat of a car that has a passenger airbag.
All child restraints, including forward-facing restraints, are best installed in the rear seats.
Child restraints that push children forward from the passenger seat can result in serious injury if the air bag is activated.
You may be able to switch the passenger airbag off if you must have a child restraint in the front. Always switch it on again when the child restraint is no longer in the front seat.

Want more information and help with your child restraint?
Child Restraint Technicians: are trained to provide informed advice, a list of certified technicians is available at nzta.govt.nz/child-restraint-technicians Plunket: call 0800 933 922 or visit plunket.org.nz NZTA: call 0800 699 000, visit nzta.govt.nz or email info@nzta.govt.nz Find out more