Nearly three quarters of parents have admitted that they aren't fully confident about the new laws around children's car seats.

New research, commissioned by Slater and Gordon, has revealed that the current law is so complex that confused parents are instead relying on advice from friends, Facebook groups and other parents.

Parents' concerns focused on what size the car seat needed to be, whether it needed to be rear facing or not and whether they needed to use a car seat at all.

Devon Live reports that an alarming statistic showed more than half of parents state they were unsure whether their car seat was fitted properly and 59 per cent said they don't think they strap their children in tight enough.

Sixty eight per cent of parents said they were confused about what was safety guidance and what was the law.

Video Loading

Less than a quarter of parents knew how long a child should be rear facing by law and 73 per cent were confused about the different terminology like i-size and isofix.

Sixty per cent of those that thought they knew the difference in terminology were wrong.

Patrick Maguire, road traffic accident lawyer at Slater and Gordon, said: "As a parent myself this research doesn't surprise me, but as someone that helps the often innocent victims of serious car crashes everyday it is deeply worrying.

"The laws around car seats are there to ensure children are as safe as they possibly can be should they be unfortunate enough to be a passenger in a car involved in an accident.

"But there is a lot of misinformation out there and it can be hard for parents to ensure they have the correct and up to date information they need to best protect their children."

The research also revealed that the cost of car seats meant that parents often looked on eBay or Facebook selling sites where parents had little evidence as to whether the seat had been in an accident or access to proper fitting instructions.

What you need to know about children's car seats

Doing so could save a child's life

According to Slater and Gordon, these are the key things to know about children's car seats:

  • Seats must be rear-facing until a child is 15 months or older, after this they can use a forward-facing seat.
  • All children must use a car seat until they turn 12 years old, or reach 135cm in height, whichever comes first. Children must then wear seat belts.
  • This also applies to children with disabilities or medical conditions, but can be adapted for each child's needs.
  • The responsibility for the safety of children in a car lies with the driver, rather than the children's parents.

A fifth said they would use a car seat if it had been used previously in a car during an accident.

The research also showed that a lot of parents were poorly informed about whether their child needed to be in a car seat or not.

Some polled parents believed their child wouldn't need a car seat in a friend's car, while eight per cent thought parents didn't need to worry for a short journey.

Mums and dads were unclear around whether you needed a car seat in a taxi, minibus or bus.

A quarter hadn't known that if you placed a car seat in the passenger seat they would need to turn off the airbag.

Nearly half of the parents polled believed that it was the child's parent who was responsible for a child being in a suitable car seat when then reality is that it lies with the driver of the car.

While one in six had knowingly used a car seat that their child didn't fit in to.

This research polled 2,000 motorists with children.

Want more news?



Find our Bath Facebook page here or Somerset's can be found here   

Alternatively, follow us on Twitter - @BathLive and @SomersetLive