News & Info

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) are currently running a ‘Check it Fits’ roadshow service around Ireland, with a team of experts providing free checks on child car seats to ensure they are correctly fitted.

In 2024, the Check It Fits service found that 54% of child car seats were fitted incorrectly:

• 20% of these needed major corrections because of errors such as seatbelts incorrectly routed and excessively loose fittings.
• 67% of the car seats that were wrongly installed required a minor adjustment, such as a tightening or untwisting of a seatbelt.

Solicitor Maria Lakes, is a mother of two young children and specialises in car accident claims. She understands how easy it is for a child seat to inadvertently become unsafe, which could have serious consequences if the car is involved in a collision.

“I know from my own experience that a child seat can accidentally become unfastened. It could be from something as simple as another child unclicking the seatbelt that is fixing the child seat in place. Or perhaps the seat may not have been properly fitted in the first place – it is easy to get it wrong,” she says.

“Child seats are absolutely essential for preventing serious injuries, so I would recommend that anyone who has a child seat in their car to double-check it is secure before every single journey. Even small mistakes can have an impact on the safety of the seat and the child using it. I would also encourage taking the time to get your child seat assessed at one of the Check It Fits roadshows, or if this is not possible, at one of their virtual appointments – it’s worth it for the peace of mind of knowing your child is safe in the car.”

Here are some guidelines for ensuring the safety of children in vehicles:

• Drivers have a legal responsibility to ensure that all children aged 17 and under are correctly restrained in the vehicle.
• By law, all children under 150 cms in height or 36 kgs (79 lbs) in weight must use a child restraint system suitable for their height and weight while travelling in a car or goods vehicle (other than a bus or taxi), no matter how short the journey is.
• It is illegal to put a rearward-facing child seat in a front passenger seat with an active airbag. If there is a collision and the airbag is activated, the impact of the airbag on the child seat can cause serious injury or even death. You can receive at least 3 penalty points on your driving licence as a penalty for having a rear-facing child seat in the passenger seat.
• Make sure the car seat being used is appropriate for the child’s current weight and height (for babies under one, rearward facing seats provide more protection for their head, neck and spine than forward-facing seats)
• Check the child seat has an ‘E-Mark’ label to show it meets EU safety standards and that it is correctly fitted.
• While there is no rule against children being in the front seat if they are using the right restraint for their height and weight, ideally children should always travel in the back of the car, away from active airbags and the dashboard.
• Ensure the seatbelts are not twisted on the child.
• In colder months, remove bulky clothing like puffer jackets before securing the seatbelt. The seatbelt must be in contact with the child’s body to be effective.
• To make sure the harness or seat belt is tight enough use the two finger rule:
  • For rearward-facing seats: it should be tight enough so that two fingers can fit between the top of child’s shoulders and the harness.
  • For forward-facing seats: it should be tight enough so that only two fingers can fit between the child’s breastbone and the harness.
• Be aware of ‘buckle crunch’. This is where the seatbelt buckle rests against the frame of the child seat. The movement of the car, or the impact of a collision could cause the seatbelt that is securing the seat to become unfastened.

For more information, including Frequently Asked Questions, videos, guidelines and tips for installing child car seats and how to perform regular checks on them, visit the Child Seats section of the RSA website.

The RSA website also has information on booking a Check It Fits appointment, either at a roadshow or a virtual appointment.