What the law says

• If you are in a seat that has a seatbelt you MUST wear it.
• A child under the age of 12 years or under 135cm in height MUST be sat in the correct child restraint.
• It is the driver’s responsibility, in their personal car, for anyone under 14 years of age to ensure their seatbelts are fastened and have the appropriate car seat, if required.
• Child car seats were made compulsory in September 2006.
• Child car seats must have an EU label attached: ECE R44.03 or above to be legal, or comply with the new i-size regulation.
• Children up to 13kg (approximately 9-12 months) months MUST be in a rear-facing child seat. However, it is expected over the next 5 years that this will be phased out and will be increased to approximately 15 months for a child to remain in a rear-facing child seat.
• It is illegal for a rear-facing child seat to be in the front seat with an active airbag. You can deactivate the passenger airbag or ask the manufacturer to deactivate it. However, the manufacturers may not do this due to liability and you must remember to reactivate the airbag afterwards. It is recommend that you do not use a rear-facing car seat at all in the front seat.

Seatbelts & Pregnancy

Pregnancy is an exciting time of change, but this does not mean that you are exempt from wearing a seatbelt. Buckling up is more important than ever. Wearing a seatbelt saves lives.

Wearing a seat belt while pregnant will not harm your baby. It may not always be comfortable but if you have a collision it will significantly improve your safety and help to protect you, your baby and any other adults and children travelling with you.

The seatbelt’s diagonal strap is to sit between your breasts, whilst moving the strap around the side of your bump so that the lap strap sits comfortably under your bump, as low as possible, from hipbone to hipbone. You may find that you will need to adjust the seatbelt, especially as the baby grows so that it is more comfortable.

You may also find that you need to push the seat back and adjust the height of the seat and steering wheel. Remember not to move your seat too far away from the steering wheel, as you don’t want to be stretching too much to reach the clutch, brake and accelerator. This could affect your reaction times. Don't forget that adjusting the seat could change your view out of the mirrors so always check them if you have made any adjustments.