Child restraints and the law

All children under 5 years of age must be in an approved child restraint when they're travelling in a car or van. The restraint must also be certified to one of 3 standards and suitable for the age, weight, height and physical development of the child.

Older children between 5 and 7 must use an approved child restraint if one is available – otherwise they must use an adult safety belt. If no safety belt’s available, they must be in the back seat.

New Zealand lagging behind

Our record on child-passenger safety could be better. We’re third from the bottom in an international comparison of road death rates for children. Our average rate is 3 children killed on the roads per 100,000 people. Sweden had the lowest rate: 0.6 deaths per 100,000.

Other countries have stricter laws for protecting children in cars. In Australia, children under 6 months old must be rear-facing and children aged 4 to 7 years must be in a forward-facing restraint or a booster seat. The UK insists older children must use an appropriate child restraint until they reach either their 12th birthday or a height of 1.35m.

Road safety strategy

In March 2010 the Minister of Transport released Safer Journeys, the government’s road-safety strategy through to 2020. One aim is to "make the use of booster seats the norm for children aged 5 to 10" – which may imply bringing our child-restraint laws in line with international best practice. A first stage would be a requirement for all children up to the age of 8 to use an appropriate child restraint. This could later be extended to all children up to their 10th birthday or once they reach 1.48m in height.

Act now

We don’t think you should wait till the law changes. We recommend using a booster seat up to the age of 10 years or until the child is taller than 1.48m.