How old are car seats needed: traffic regulations, fines for violation and child safety

How old are car seats needed and when can I refuse them? Parents are interested in the only question: does the presence of a seat in the car save from administrative and criminal liability? What to do if the child has already outgrown the seat, but by age does not yet have the right to ride without a restraint?

Rules of the road: what is said about children?

In traffic rules there is an answer to all questions of parents:

• A child under 12 years old must only ride in a restraint.
• Until the age of 7, he is obliged to sit only in the back seat.
• If a child under 12 years of age can be fastened with a seat belt, and he passes below the neck of a teenager, you can do without additional seats.

It turns out that under 12 years old all children must be fastened with seat belts, which are provided for by seats, as well as car belts, if using seats. To what age are car seats needed for normal child growth? The answer is obvious - up to 12 years.

Important! The presence of a seat in the cabin does not guarantee the absence of fines if the child is not sitting in it, but next to it. Observe safety measures. And it doesn’t matter if you go to a clinic or a long trip.

When to buy a chair?

The child seat was included in the list of obligatory things upon discharge from the hospital:

• If women in labor with a newborn order a taxi, it must be equipped with an appropriate chair.
• It is worth taking care of this issue in advance if family friends will pick up the child.
• In your personal car there should be a chair designed for age 0+ (newborns).

It often happens that mothers don’t know at what age they need to use a car seat and at what age they are suitable for use. It’s easier to hold the baby in your arms while sitting in the cabin. However, this is a punishable act.

Why can not carry children in their arms?

Pretty scrupulous question:

• It is convenient to hold the newborn in his arms - he sleeps, eats, and feels his mother.
• Older children in their arms - comfortable for both them and the parent. The child is distracted by the outside world, is not capricious.
• In the chair, the children sweat, especially in the summer. You can’t turn on the air conditioner, and it’s much calmer on his hands than in a stuffy cramped chair.

With all this, the probability of a fatal outcome can never be ruled out. The vehicle speed in the city reaches 50 km / h. There are road sections where speed can be increased to 70-90 km / h. At the time of the collision, the hands of the passenger who holds the child receive a load of up to 300 kg. It is impossible to physically hold a child 3-4 kg (newborn).

Car seat - the best protection against such outcomes. Despite the dubious arrangement of belts, which are difficult to fix around the body of a newly born baby, it is much more reliable than the hands of a mother or father. No matter how strange it sounds, but the highest degree of responsibility of a mother does not guarantee a happy ending.

Which chair do you need to buy?

An excellent option for a newborn will be a chair marked 0+. There are varieties:

• Armchairs go up to 12 months - for the smallest. There are 5 point seat belts.
• Chairs from 0 to 13 kg - designed for children up to 1.5 years. A bit more massive, heavier, but not so practical.

You should not buy a chair for growth - each restraint system is designed for a specific age. Putting a 1-year-old child in a chair for a 3-year-old baby is the same as transporting him in the cabin. Injuries resulting from an accident will be incompatible with life.

It is worth giving up chairs that are sold at a discount. This is a discounted product that no one buys. Their plastic can be thin, squeezed by the fingers of an adult. Quality products are always certified; more expensive than analogues of the budget segment.

Additional accessories for newborns

The chair can be equipped with a special dressing that will hold the head of the newborn. This will help prevent cervical fractures. Additionally:

• It is recommended to buy bedding that is equipped with pen holes. They hold the baby's hands stationary.
• Additional belts - help to better hold the child’s body.
• Leg pads - are fixed directly in front of the edge of the car seat so that the baby does not fly out of the chair during a collision.
• Pillows - help to weaken the blow on the edge of the chair if a collision with the car occurred in the trunk area.

It is recommended to install a chair up to 13 kg strictly against the movement of the machine. Thus, the spine and cervical region of the child are protected. The risk of ruptured spinal discs is reduced.

Chairs for children 1-3 years old

According to paragraph 22.9 of the SDA, children are transported using special seats with the ISOFIX restraint system. There are several varieties, given the new provisions of the rules of the road. If the child is more than 7 years old, he is still obliged to be in the car in a special chair or booster.

It is worth noting that boosters are needed for those who no longer fit in the chair of the second group, but who still can not comfortably manage with a seat belt. These are children 130-135 cm tall. As soon as the belt passes strictly on the shoulder without crashing into the child’s neck, you can refuse the booster. Therefore, answering the question, up to what age car seats are needed, according to the SDA, the limit is 12-14 years.

In an accident, a seat belt touching the child’s neck can strangle, fracture the cervical vertebrae.

Types of seats for children 15-36 kg

There is a separate group of "2-3" seats, which are universal analogues. They are suitable for children weighing from 15 to 36 kg. How old are car seats of this type?

1. Children over one year of age who are not placed in group “1” by weight and height can use the restraint system of the group of “2-3” seats.
2. Seat classification is indicated by ECE 44 or ECE 129.
3. Additionally, such a chair should be marked i-Size.

This is a technical regulation submitted by the EAEU Customs Union. Thanks to adjacent groups, a person can choose a model suitable for weight and height for the child.

Maximum weight and height of the child for transportation in chairs and on boosters

There are combined groups of chairs that are different from the previous ones. This is not about devices that are designed according to the regulations (given the weight and height of the child). These are transformers that can combine 1-2-3 groups of chairs, suitable for children from 1 year to 4 years and older.

How old are car seats with the following features?

Regarding the table, we understand how old a child car seat is. There are children who are 10 years older than the maximum value. Therefore, they are allowed to do with seat belts in the passenger compartment.

What to do if a child has outgrown a chair?

If before the age of 12 the child no longer fits in any group of seats, he can ride in the back seat without restraints.

An armchair or booster must be installed in the front seat. According to the SDA, the recommendations of the traffic police, it is recommended to use seats up to 12 years. "Growth parameters" are not taken into account when transporting children with disabilities.

It is allowed not to fasten children with injuries when transported in public and private transport in cases where this may aggravate the health of the child. However, this exception applies to situations when children are taken to a medical facility. This is the peculiarity of the rules, where it says how old a child needs a car seat.

What will happen if you forget or don’t install the seat: driver’s responsibility

If the parents do not know how old they need to use the child car seat, they forgot to install it or do not use it for its intended purpose (and in the cabin it is), the driver faces an administrative penalty:

• The fine will be 3,000 rubles for individuals.
• For legal entities - 100,000 rubles.
• For officials (cab drivers, private drivers) - 25,000 rubles.

To find out at what age a child needs a car seat, see Part 3 of Art. 12.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. The fines are also set there.

A fine can be imposed several times a day, regardless of how long children travel without restraints.

Lack of a chair in an accident: consequences of a fatal outcome

The absence of a chair, booster mounts, an anchor belt and a telescopic stand, if provided for by the design, can lead to fatal consequences in an accident. Drivers who know how old the children are in the car seat must understand all responsibility.

• According to statistics, 4 children under the age of 3 years who are transported in cars without restraints die every day.
• Children under 7 years of age (preschool age) die many times more often - 13% of those who died in 2019 as a result of an accident.
• Due to ignorance of parents, to what age children are carried in a car seat, babies are carried in their arms. Already in this year, 8 newborns in the Moscow Region died as a result of collisions.

Memo to drivers: if you work in a taxi, transport people in passenger vehicles, drive your personal car without restraints (seats, belts, boosters), you pose a potential danger to passengers, including children. It doesn’t matter what your experience and driving experience is. Experienced drivers get into accidents - different cases. It happens that a person falls asleep, has lost control due to inexperience, weather conditions.

Remember, at what age children carry in a car seat, do not neglect safety measures. In that car there may be your children, relatives. Take care of yourself - they are waiting for you at home.