According to Swedish child car sear specialists, despite the fact rear-facing car seats offer the highest level of protection if children are involved in a car crash, just 22 per cent of two-four-year-olds in the UK remain in them.
In contrast, 83 per cent of Swedish parents surveyed said their children of the same age remain in rear-facing car seats.
AxKid, the Swedish child car seat specialist surveyed 1,000 UK and 1,000 Swedish parents.
It found that 15 per cent of UK parents with children under two, and 14 per cent of parents with children aged two to four, do not always ensure their child uses a car seat – ‘leaving thousands of children unprotected’. Some parents have a child car seat, but do not strap their child in, found the survey.
The findings also highlight a lack of awareness among parents about the minimum legal age for forward-facing car seats and how tall a child has to be legally to travel without a car or booster seat.
The law on child car seats in the UK states that children must use car seats until the age of 12 or 135cm tall, whichever comes first. For height-based seats, children can't be forward facing until they are over 15 months old.
Axkid says it believes the UK is ‘failing’ parents by not providing clear guidance, and has launched a campaign calling for urgent action to better protect children, this includes:
- Policy changes – Updating UK car seat safety guidance by strongly encouraging rear-facing travel until at least four-years-old, as successfully implemented in Sweden.
- Stronger public awareness and official guidance – The launch of nationwide campaigns to ensure parents fully understand the life-saving benefits of rear-facing seats, as well as clear, evidence-based guidance to help families make safer choices.
- Professional certified car seat fitting services – Expanding access to expert fitting services so parents can confidently select and install the safest seat for their child.
Jayne Caul, managing director of Axkid UK, said, ‘The UK is seriously lagging behind in child car seat safety. The Swedish Plus Test, one of the world’s most rigorous car seat safety evaluations, proves that rear-facing seats are up to five times safer than forward-facing models.
‘Yet, most British parents don’t know this, because they aren’t receiving the guidance they need to make informed, life-saving choices.
‘No child should ever be unrestrained in a moving vehicle, yet our findings show this is happening far too often. The risks are severe - without proper restraint, children are at great risk of death or serious injury in a collision.’
