Child Restraint Law changes

[Ace]

hi guys, got this email at work today, thought those on here with kiddies might be interested. laws come into effect on the 1st of July 2010, they were supposed to come into affect on the 1st of March but have put back for what ever reason.

Info is as follows;

- Children younger than six months must be secured in a rearward facing restraint.

- Children aged six months to under four years must be secured in either a rear or forward facing restraint.

- Children aged four years to under seven years must be secured in forward facing child restraint or booster seat.

- Children younger than four years cannot travel in the front seat of a vehicle with two or more rows (so ok in single cab utes).

- Children aged four years to under seven years cannot travel in the front seat of a vehicle with two or more rows, unless all other back seats
are occupied by children younger than seven years in a child restraint or booster seat.

It can be a vague area and alot of people dont know fully where the kids can and cant sit so hope this clears up an grey areas. it was news to me aswell, my young bloke is 5 and he has been sitting in the front seat of the disco with his booster seat for a while, turns out as of the 1st of July this is a no no.

[LandyAndy]

The Mrs saw a funny sight the other morning outside the shops.
An older Falcoon station wagon with many more occupants than seats,kids stacked in the load area.
A customer of the general store approached the driver and pointed out it was illeagal and they need to make other arrangements.The driver jumped out only to have the off duty cop flash his badge in his face.
They waited around for ages for another vehicle to turn up.Bet they didnt have licences etc and didnt dare move.
He called his workmates on the mobile in front of them before leaving them with it:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
Andrew

[p38arover]

RTA adverts in today's paper and this evening's news still said 1st March for the new laws.

However, the news mentioned a period of grace.

[Banjo_pluker]

hi guys, got this email at work today, thought those on here with kiddies might be interested. laws come into effect on the 1st of July 2010, they were supposed to come into affect on the 1st of March but have put back for what ever reason.

Info is as follows;

- Children younger than six months must be secured in a rearward facing restraint.

- Children aged six months to under four years must be secured in either a rear or forward facing restraint.

- Children aged four years to under seven years must be secured in forward facing child restraint or booster seat.

- Children younger than four years cannot travel in the front seat of a vehicle with two or more rows (so ok in single cab utes).

- Children aged four years to under seven years cannot travel in the front seat of a vehicle with two or more rows, unless all other back seats
are occupied by children younger than seven years in a child restraint or booster seat.

It can be a vague area and alot of people dont know fully where the kids can and cant sit so hope this clears up an grey areas. it was news to me aswell, my young bloke is 5 and he has been sitting in the front seat of the disco with his booster seat for a while, turns out as of the 1st of July this is a no no.

Sitting in the front with the booster seat has been a nono for a long time but not advertised (unless no aribags and no second row).

Could you enlighten on it being put back as all the offical RTA stuff still states it starts today with a 3 month grace look Child restraints (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/children/childrestraints/index.html)

[Izmirblue]

I assume these new laws are NSW only...
Last I read in the NT kids over 12 months could sit anywhere anyhow...:o
Only in the NT....

[loanrangie]

I assume these new laws are NSW only...
Last I read in the NT kids over 12 months could sit anywhere anyhow...:o
Only in the NT....

In the NT all kids must be strapped in unless there is a slab of beer in the back, then the slab gets preference :p.

[Banjo_pluker]

yes they are for NSW only but other states have these laws in already from what i have read

[Ace]

Sitting in the front with the booster seat has been a nono for a long time but not advertised (unless no aribags and no second row).

Could you enlighten on it being put back as all the offical RTA stuff still states it starts today with a 3 month grace look Child restraints (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/children/childrestraints/index.html)

After the highway patrol Sgt sent the email with the info i posted saying it was the 1st of March 2010 that the new laws come in another email was sent around to all officers buy our universal memo system that is used to update all police in the state of various issues saying that it had been put off until the 1st of July. It did not state why though.

My suggestion is to go with the 1st of march date to be safe.

Matt

[Banjo_pluker]

My thought after I posted was that why would the RTA change the date when they can just say they did not get around to it.

Thanks for the info Ace

[twitchy]

yes they are for NSW only but other states have these laws in already from what i have read

We have just had all the adds for this as well........ even though supposedly we had it already.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

I assume these new laws are NSW only...
Last I read in the NT kids over 12 months could sit anywhere anyhow...:o
Only in the NT....I'm not sure that that law in the NT applies to Anglo-Saxon kids or other kids from immigrant backgrounds, but I could be wrong.

[Yorkie]

this is good but they do need to get the message out more.
i have kids and considering they one of most important things in life, people then stick a 2yo in the front seat with no booster/harness. :mad:
i can't remember but sure in the uk under 12 cannot ride in front unless all other seats taken by minors.

cheers

[scarry]

Good time to sell any unwanted booster seats that have been taking up room in the shed.
My brother put one in the weekends paper & sold all four he had,the phone hasn't stopped ringing.

So cabbies will have to have them as well?

Umm....the boots full of baby capsules,booster seats & also the LPG tank,no room for any luggage...

On a serious note,good to see these rules are in,how often do you see kids in cars without a seat belt on....too often:mad:

[Michael2]

Just a couple of extra points to be aware of :

[1] Booster seats have Used By dates. Given the engineered design and materials used for new boosters over the old styrofoam boosters, I think this has more to to with protectionsim than protection. But be warned - sell your old ones before they get too old, and don't buy any that will be out of date before your kids turn 7.

[2] A child under 7 can sit in a regular seat if / when their size / weight exceeds the capacity of the booster seat.

[THE BOOGER]

Taxis in our area have been carrying a booster and a capsule in the boot for a while:)
I have a 2 year old grand daughter and my daughter uses taxis a bit little kids have had to be in approved restraints for a while now.

[Banjo_pluker]

Just a couple of extra points to be aware of :

[2] A child under 7 can sit in a regular seat if / when their size / weight exceeds the capacity of the booster seat.

In NSW any child under the age of 7 is required to be in a child restraint. I have not found anything within the laws that state they don't need to be in a booster seat when over weight or too big,

[Lotz-A-Landies]

I assume these new laws are NSW only...
Last I read in the NT kids over 12 months could sit anywhere anyhow...:o
Only in the NT....I was following a bus today with an ad on it's bum stating that they are new national road rules. So I am assuming that it will be applying across the nation, except of course those parts of Australia that don't consider themselves to be a part of the nation !

[JDNSW]

I was following a bus today with an ad on it's bum stating that they are new national road rules. So I am assuming that it will be applying across the nation, except of course those parts of Australia that don't consider themselves to be a part of the nation !

Since all states and territories subscribe to national road rules and vehicle standards, I wonder whence the strife we see repeatedly in these pages whenever someone moves or buys interstate?

I see no reason to suppose this latest "national" road rule will be anything different - if you (or anyone else) know of anything special about this change to distinguish it from all the other "national" rules, please let us know.

The facts are that the national rules have no force in any state or territory until they are implemented into legislation - which process is subject to all the usual lobby and special interest tampering that happens with any legislation. And then there is administration, which may vary from state to state anywhere from meticulous enforcement of the letter of the law regardless of how silly, to total non-enforcement!

John

[Bigbjorn]

Since all states and territories subscribe to national road rules and vehicle standards, I wonder whence the strife we see repeatedly in these pages whenever someone moves or buys interstate?

I see no reason to suppose this latest "national" road rule will be anything different - if you (or anyone else) know of anything special about this change to distinguish it from all the other "national" rules, please let us know.

The facts are that the national rules have no force in any state or territory until they are implemented into legislation - which process is subject to all the usual lobby and special interest tampering that happens with any legislation. And then there is administration, which may vary from state to state anywhere from meticulous enforcement of the letter of the law regardless of how silly, to total non-enforcement!

John

My experiences of dealings with different states over registration and modification matters is that all states say they have agreed to and accepted the national uniform road rules. However they seem to have adopted six different sets of uniform road rules. As JD says, the level of enforcement varies from ridiculous through rigid to laissez passe. You can't even get the same answer to a question from two or more officers of Qld. Transport. So much for uniformity.

Around 1977 the National Association of Australian State Road Authorities (NAASRA) came up with a set of uniform rules pertaining to length, weight, and speed limits for trucks. Amid much publicity, bureaucratic and ministerial chest puffing and back slapping, these rules were said to be now adopted nationwide. Anyone who has been in the road transport business since is fully aware that this never really happened. Any uniformity is purely by accident or for convenience.

[Michael2]

In NSW any child under the age of 7 is required to be in a child restraint. I have not found anything within the laws that state they don't need to be in a booster seat when over weight or too big,

Have a close look at NSW RTA FAQs at Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/children/childrestraints/childrestraintlaws_faqs.html)

and you will see that there are size limits for all child restraints. You can always move up to a harness, which is what we've done when the kids have exceeded the restraint capacity.

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Has anyone noticed that on the NSW RTA website (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/rulesregulations/roadrules/index.html)they now publish the NSW Road Rules where back in 2005 the same site posted the Australian Road Rules. :confused: