Cops snubbing child seat law

Police are admitting they cannot enforce new laws on child car booster seats, Auto Express can exclusively reveal

Auto Express Car Reviews

Tall order
Officers face difficulties in judging age and height of young passengers when stopping cars, so enforcing latest rules is tricky.

By Steve Lumley

16th January 2007

A snapshot survey has shown hardly any fixed penalty notices have been issued to drivers across the country following the change in the rules more than four months ago.

Since 18 September 2006, children have been required to use booster seats if they are under 12 years old and less than 135cm (four feet, five inches) tall, in a move that was aimed at preventing about 2,000 accident injuries a year.

Parents rushed to buy the seats with the threat of a £30 on-the-spot fine, or a maximum £500 if convicted in court. But police admit they are not using the powers available to them because of problems they face upholding the law.

A spokeswoman for Durham Police, which hasn't issued any fixed penalty notices at all, told Auto Express: "We recognise there are difficulties assessing young passengers' height and age."

Essex Police, which has also issued no tickets, said: "In the initial period, we are looking at giving advice to people."

North Yorkshire Police told us it has yet to issue a fixed penalty, and blamed difficulties in measuring children's heights and finding out ages. Northumbria Police has issued two fines, but the Metropolitan Police hasn't handed out any.

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: "If the police have concerns about the legislation and how to go about enforcing it, we'd expect them to feed those concerns back through the available channels. So far, we have not been made aware of any concerns."