Do Cars in UK have top tethers?

[hellogg87]

Hi, I'm moving to the UK this summer (from the US) with my two children. My oldest is currently in a forward facing, harnessed car seat that requires it to be tethered to a top anchor. I've been reading that top anchors are not common in European cars. Is this true? How new of a car would we need to have top anchors?

Do you mean tether points behind the rear seats? Yes my Fiesta does so did my last Fiesta which was a 2015 plate.

No they don't. They have an ISO fix at the bottom. I'm now in Aus and it needs to be bolted at top. It seems a lot more secure than how we had it in the UK.

My cars since having dc (various - Volvo, Audi, Honda) have all had an anchor point behind the seat. Top tethers here are a strap that goes from the top of the child seat, over the back (into the boot) and anchor near the bottom of the rear of the car’s seat (if that makes any sense!)

Car seat types do vary from country to country, so do double check that your seats meet the required standards here.

You can't make a sweeping statement that they don't, as some do. My last 2 cars have had top anchor points for car seat top tethers

I have a Kia and it has the tethers.

We have a fiat and an Astra and both have the top tethers, they are in the boot.

You can't make a sweeping statement that they don't, as some do

True. I'd totally ignore my comment OP. I'm sleep deprived at the moment and was referring to the cars we had - Sorry!

Unfortunately, I don't think it's as simple as how old the car is, I think you'll have to look at individual cars. We have a 2014 Vauxhall Insignia and it has the tethers, our 2014 Honda Jazz doesn't.

Unless your US car seat meets current EU legislation it won't be legal here. (UK will at least in the short term be the same as EU legislation post 29 March). I know the advice is its OK to use a foreign seat when on holiday, less sure it's a good idea to plan to use an illegal seat if you are moving here for the long term when a new one is cheap in comparison to the car you'll be buying?

How old are your kids ? Rear facing is safest til 5 anyway.

@dietcokemegafan my oldest is almost 5 and has outgrown the the rear facing limits of the seat, unfortunately.

If you are moving here, you would be best advised to buy car seats that are U.K. compliant. The same would be true if somebody were moving to the US with European seats.

Insurance companies will cover you if you are on holiday but they may not cover you with US in a British car registered to a British address.

Thanks for the info. We have a EU compliant seat. It's the Diono Radian 5. We lived in the UK when my oldest was a baby, and knew we'd likely be moving back. And since EU car seats are legal here and not the other way around, we bought a EU car seat. But it still requires top tethering. It didn't occur to me at the time that not all cars had top anchors. So just trying to gauge how likely we will find one.

I my car has teathers

Another Vauxhall owner here my car has them as well. 2015 car.

A generally rule would be larger family cars post 2015 will have them. However, not all of them and lots of smaller cars too! You'd have to find a car and if you can't test drive it, look online for the owners guide for that model and spec.

My Citroen c4 grand 2017 plate has top tethers for all 3 rear seats.

My oldest child is 13 and the car we bought when she was born had top tethers so not that new! (That was a Renault grand scenic) Every car since has also had them. The car info online will tell you if they do or don't, I'd be very very surprised if a family car with isofix didn't have them.

Thanks everyone! Looks like we will just have to shop around and look. Also, are automatic locking seatbelt common in UK cars?

What do you mean by automatic locking seatbelt?

Automatic seatbelt locking is a US thing. European seatbelts are made differently do they don't have it and don't need it. I'm not sure of the technical differences but you don't have the locking clips that you use in the US.

People have asked the same question on the Facebook group 'car seat advice uk' if you can join that. It's the best source of car seat advice, run by qualified car seat professionals.

@teaandbiscuitsforme thank you, I will join that group!

My oldest is 15 and we had top tethers for his car seat.

We don’t have ALS. That is where you put the seatbelt on and it retracts then locks into place, so once you’re strapped in it stays tight.

We have setbelts that only lock during rapid deceleration. Which means during a normal journey the belt can loosen and retract, allowing movement.