Fifth of parents and grandparents admit to not using car seats for children

More than a fifth of parents and grandparents who transport children in their cars admit to not using a child seats at all times, new research has revealed.

Some 16 per cent of the 605 parents and grandparents included in the survey admitted that they confessed to only failing to secure children properly in the car only very rarely, while three per cent said they did it regularly. Another three per cent said that they only allowed children to ride in the car without using a child seat sometimes.

The main reason used to explain why drivers hadn’t secured their children in the car properly was because the child seat was in another car, followed by a fifth saying they forgot to take the car seats out of another vehicle.

Fifteen per cent said that they hadn’t used one because of the shortness of the journey, while nine per cent said that they had discovered that the car seat in question was the wrong size for their child or grandchild.

Sophie Steane, RAC Shop spokesperson, who commissioned the study, said: “Having the right car seat for your baby or child is essential. Our findings show that many parents and grandparents have taken risks by not using the proper seats. While many say they have only done this very occasionally and only for very short distances, you can never be sure that something bad won’t happen.

“We imagine more risks have been taken with older children than babies, but we would urge every parent and grandparent not to chance it as the thoughts of something terrible happening would be too much to bear.”

UK law which required children to use special car seats was only introduced in 2006, which was upgraded in March 2017 to meet concerns about backless booster seats.