Booster seats and transporting children to school events

[yoyo]

Having caught the tail end of Jeremy Vine's show where a minister said that booster seats were compulsory for all children under 135 cm tall unless in an emergency situation I contacted Herts police for clarification. I frequently transport children at DC's school to sporting events and they confirmed that they would now need booster seats. The woman I spoke to said that they had received a letter from their school to say that transport was now being looked into more thoroughly - has anyone else received such a letter from their school?

I have a governors' meeting tonight so any input would be much appreciated.

[2plus2plus1]

If the journey is planned - yes they need booster seats.

The only exception that may apply to you is if you don't have room for 3 seats in the back 1 child can just use an adult seatbelt.

[yoyo]

I have a seven seater which is why I frequently get asked to help. There is no way that I am going to buy another 4 booster seats though. The school will need a lot more volunteers with this law in place.

[MatNanPlus]

But surely yoyo these events are planned ahead and said children should be using booster seats anyway?

Why cant said children bring named booster seats into school that day for transportation?

[LIZS]

perhaps the school could get some in since they are getting free transport out of it , or as suggested the parents loan their own.

[yoyo]

Yes, that would be a solution. Storage would be a problem potentially but rather that than the children miss out on the opportunity to take part. I might suggest that the school buys some too - do you think there might be places that might discount for schools (not much in the pot at the moment)? There may well be parents at school who will not use the seats so it would make sense for the school to have some just for those children.

[MatNanPlus]

Call me mean but for £10-12 parents can buy a booster and to be honest all children under 135cm should have one, if parents want to flout the law then why should the school offer a free booster seat so their child can participate, when i'm sure there many other things that would benefit many more children that money could be used for, even if the parent hasn't room for a 3rd seat in the back and due to airbag can't use the front, grandparents etc would no doubt need a seat as would parents for playdates.

As Misdee stated a while ago she is of small stature and was badly hurt by the seat belt in a crash, for £10-12 surely parents would want to do anything they could to limit the danger/injury that their child could suffer in an accident.

[KathyMCMLXXII]

But if the parents won't, Matnanplus, why should the children lose out?

[MatNanPlus]

But why should the school have to provide something the law says parents should already have ?

[littleducks]

The school should have some spares (someone will always forget for one!) i believe some cars have in built booster seats and parents wouldnt need one, so why should they buy one for school events if they specially bought a car with booster seats, also some people dont have cars etc.

What happens on school trips in minibuses and coachs btw? I havent seen anything in that regard in leaflets.

[longwaytogo]

netto have them at the moment for £2.99

[yoyo]

Back from the meeting and our school is looking at buying some. They don't feel the children should effectively be penalised because of the parents.
Coaches and minibuses are not affected.

[kid]

If I have a planned journey with 3 chidren all under 135cm (plus 1 adult), will I be allowed to use the adult seatbelt on one of the children? Or would I be expected to put one of the children on a booster seat in the front?

[LIZS]

Think either might be acceptable, Kid.

In our local free paper today a Surrey police spokesman says they won't be specifically looking to enforce this above any other driving offence and offenders will be judged on a "case by case" basis - hmm ...

[kid]

I read it was a £30 fine if children are not travelling on a booster seat.
I have just had a £100 fine for stopping in a loading bay on a red route. I honestly thought I could stop there for up to 20 minutes but I now know differently. I won't be doing that again.

[SueW]

Why not ask parents to donate booster seats as their children grow out of them?

They aren't like car seats, are they, offering protection so secondhand wouldn't be a problem.

[yoyo]

I think there is actually a standard that booster seats are expected to make. I wasn't aware of this until our meeting so will have to check it out later. One of our governors was taking exception to the very cheap ones that are available.

[MatNanPlus]

As long as the cheaper booster seats like those Netto, Lidl and Aldi stock carry the EU 44-03 mark it has passed the current safety tests.

[MatNanPlus]

Safety Standards : ECE R44.03
Child restraints (baby seats, child seats, booster seats and booster cushions) sold in the UK must conform to the United Nations Regulation R44.03.

(Child restraints that conform to a British Standard or to an earlier version of R44, may continue to be used, although as these will now be several years old, parents should consider replacing them with newer ones that conform to R44.03).

From here

[housemum]

This whole booster seat law has been made almost impossible to enforce by the whole emergency situation thing. What happens if the police stop you? I should imagine most would say something like "It wasn't supposed to be me picking up the kids but x was sick so I came along..." - or even, "they aren't my kids!"

I don't think it should be the school's responsibility to provide a seat - if you have a child, you must have a car seat of your own or that you borrow from a friend if you intend them to travel in a car - I know some people won't have cars, but chances are there would be someone with a spare or outgrown seat. The only responsibility of the school is to say that all those providing transport must ensure they have adequate car seats for the children they take.

Interestingly on the Jeremy Vine show they mentioned a situation where eg a child has gone to a friend's house and the mum offers to take them to the pictures on the spur of the moment. If she does not have a booster, this is not an "emergency" so she would be fined. However, if she put them in a taxi with no boosters that is allowed as taxis do not have to carry boosters. Explain the logic in that!!

[SueW]

Did you know R44.03 came into being in 2002 and the rules are now up to R44.07 (2205)?

All exciting rule docs here

[SueW]

2005, even !!