Rearfacing to be mandatory til 15mths from next year *important*

[lagoonhaze]

Ive posted before about rearfacing car seats and will try and bump the post. This info is likely to affect those who are pregnant and making car seat choices.Rearfacing infants in cars to be mandatory til 15mths from next year regardless of the weight of the child. This is because it is proven to be safer.

I recommend you do your research into car seats choices more than any baby product you buy and look extended rear facing. I wasnt aware of it until my first child was outgrowing his britax stage 1 seat at age 2.5 and was looking into options. I felt sickened that I had put him forward facing at 10mths and disgusted that the government werent doing more to highlight this basic thing we could do to protect our children.

Mothercare are slowly catching on (besafe seats becoming available) but halfords appear not to care (yet). I recommend the following for advice on ERF.

www.securatot.co.uk
www.mamachic.co.uk
www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk

It is not known when it become mandatory but I have heard mid 2013. The car seat manufacteurs are already bringing out new seats that could accomadate this but most are stop gap type seats instead of decent extended rear facing. See carseat.se for the latest news from a baby show

Here are some bulletins and press releases on it

www.anec.eu/attachments/ANEC-PR-2012-PRL-017final.pdf

www.anec.eu/anec.asp?p=newsletter&ref=02-01

And here are some good resources for info on extended rearfacing (as well as carseat.se)

www.rearfacing.co.uk

www.facebook.com/#!/RearFacingTheWayForward?fref=ts

(please like the facebook page to get updates)

Glad to see a move in the right direction. DD 25 months still fits rearfacing in Concord Ultimax seat. I wouldn't recommend it unless you are on a budget as i find it a bit prone to jamming and twisting straps (they're thinner belts than some other seats.

Regarding infant carry seats, I'd be so happy to see the back of those. Aside for the fact that the chin to chest position restricts breathing, I think they're awful for parent's hips and backs, especially mother's whose ligaments are looser from pregnancy/breastfeeding. That and seeing them bumped against door frames and rocked by over enthusiastic siblings! Maybe a controversial opinion though!

I've never managed to carry ours around, even with the babies before SPD, don't know why you'd want to double babies weight and carry something more awkward.

Am also paranoid of them after meeting a baby who was left in his car seat too often/too long and his spine was curving :(

TwitchyTail contact incarsafetycentre for advice as they are likely to have fitted it in your car and can advise. Obviously a physical fitting always advisable. Just a shame britax wont make it more widely available

Margaret on this facebook page has a hiway and would be happy to answer questions.

www.facebook.com/#!/RearFacingTheWayForward?fref=ts

lagoonhaze
Can I just ask on what basis you think this is going to be mandatory from next year?

I can find no evidence for an impending change in UK law with regard to this.

Its the ANEC bulletin newletter and links above. Its been the talk within rearfacing experts for a while now too.

the new i size regulations that are coming into force.

another document

www.anec.eu/attachments/ANEC-TRAF-2012-G-034.pdf

And the only think I can find where the government acknowledges it

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090574/One-seven-parents-children-risk-placing-forward-facing-car-seats-early.html

Surely there has to be (by law) a reasonable period of time between making this new law and making it enforceable?

No idea Chipping. Government know this is coming but not making it known.

I think a problem is forward facing seats being "OK" from 9kg as a lot of people interpret this as "you need to change your DC to forward facing the second they weigh 9kg".

It will not be against the law to use one. It may eventually be against the law to sell one which will remove them from market but don't panic if you have bought one.

Interestingly Which tested the rearfacing seats and found them to be less safe than some forward facing models. There are a number of reasons for this so have a look at their reports. I was all set to buy a BeSafe until I looked at Which.

Until which? remove consumer friendliness such as whether it is easy to wash covers out of their reports I will trust NCAP ratings over them!

They say can be tricky to fit. Yes they take time but no more time than some FF or combination seats on the market. Sadly the amount of friends with unsafe FF seats is shocking and Ive refitted many. Ive never seen any of my friends with ERF seats poorly fitted. Admittely less friends have these seats but the ones that do take more care to ensure they are fitted properly

ANEC simply hope it will come into force.

Can you provide a source which says this will become law in 2013?

I presume not, as I have failed to find anything to indicate this.

I'm asking because I find the thread title misleading. It is unfair to propagate this change as fact, leading people to believe that they are going to have to comply to a new law at short notice.

For what it's worth I'm confident that this will become law, but certainly not in the timescale you are claiming.

Whilst I have DS in a larger RF seat, do you have a link which gives a timeline for this passing into British law? IIRC something being passed by the EU and it becoming British law are different events.

www.unece.org/trans/main/wp29/meeting_docs_grsp.htmlGRSP devised a new Regulation on Child Restraint Systems (CRS) introducing a new philosophy of restraining children on cars.
The regulation, adopted during WP 29?s 158th session held in Geneva from 13-16 November 2012, will enter into force in mid-2013 (i.e. 6 months after adoption).

The main aim of the new child restraint system is to create a well-anchored seat like that of an adult, safeguarding children to the maximum degree possible in the event of a collision or of abrupt deceleration of the vehicle, by limiting the mobility of the child?s body.

The new Regulation on CRS foresees four new sets of provisions;
■The introduction of a simplified classification, called ? i -Size" which is based on the stature rather than the weight of the child, which was found to be more appropriate to ensure the best protection.
■The introduction of a side impact test procedure which will lead to a better protection of the child?s head especially for younger children. Until today, there was no dynamic test requirement for lateral impacts.
■The mandatory rear-facing position of children is extended to 15 months, instead of 9 months in the current Regulation.
■The introduction of a "support leg? which connects the child seat with the vehicle in order to create a tight and secure position of the seat during any driving condition.

Im not aware of difference between british and EU law

Is it just a recomendation or just hoping it will come into place. Or is it actually going to be law?

^Will CRS approved under the current ECE R44 be banned from the market with the implementation of the I-size Regulation in 2013?
No. During the transitional period, it will be possible for parents to still buy an old style R44 CRS. Once all 3 Phases of the new I-size Regulation are finalised, old style CRS will disappear from the market.^

The changes in Europe are being done in three phases. Once all of these have been implemented then you will no longer be able to buy R44 CRS. Phase one is being implemented in 2013....they have given no timescale for introduction of phase 2 or 3.

So until they are removed from sale it is perfectly legal to use R44 seats, under the leglislation which applies to them.

lagoon you appear to be misunderstanding what that is that you are linking to and quoting.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Forum_for_Harmonization_of_Vehicle_Regulations

This lot are agreeing to the changes, you have quoted.
They don't however have any control over how countries then implement the regulation.

This has to first be made into a EU regulation.
Then it must be made UK law.

Even then this law only applies to Isofix seats.

I just want it to be clear on this thread for the benefit of those who may be affected, that rearfacing seats for children under 15 months is unlikely to be made law in the UK by mid 2013.

I wondered what law it would be using in the UK as there's been now forceful push to get this information out into the public domain and I would have thought there would be a big push in passing the info onto there emergency services, but there's nothing so I assume its not going in our statute books just yet...

Sorry Ive not been back before. Poorly household. I dont know much about how laws are formed. Only been going on what Ive heard in rf forums.

Hope its law soon.