A few days ago, the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) reminded us through its Twitter account of the causes for which the Civil Guard can immobilize our vehicle when we are driving, and among them is the fact of traveling with children and not taking them into a child restraint system.
We remind you how our children should go in the car to travel safely on the road, and what we should take into account when placing them in an approved chair.
Always in your child restraint system
The Traffic and Road Safety Law includes 11 causes for which the Civil Guard could immobilize your vehicle, and the expenses derived from this retention are borne by the driver.
Among the various reasons for immobilization would be driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, not having insurance, or taking children without a child restraint system, something that would also involve fine of 200 euros and the withdrawal of 3 points from the card of driving.
The truth is that the sanction should not be what moved us to take our children in a SRI, but that we should always do it for your safety. Not surprisingly, according to DGT figures, of the 16 children under 12 who died in 2017 on the road, four did not use any child restraint system at the time of the accident.
In this case we talk about those children who have been tragically involved in an accident, but the truth is that the severity is much greater. According to Mapfre Foundation, only during the campaign that the DGT conducted between March 13 and 19, 2017, a total of 240 children under 12 years old were detected by the Civil Guard without any child restraint system, of which 64 traveled in the front seats, something prohibited since the entry into force of Royal Decree 667/2015.
Data to take into account when traveling by road
Therefore, and briefly reviewing the way in which our children should travel in the car safely, we remind you that:
- All children under 135 cm must travel in an approved SRI, regardless of the duration or distance of our journey, and it is common to fall into the error of thinking that "in short sections or of short duration nothing can happen".
Likewise, we must ensure that the chair is properly anchored to the car seat, and that the harnesses that hold the child's body are well placed and tensioned.
On the other hand, it should be remembered that the DGT recommends continuing to use approved child restraint systems until the child reaches 150 cm in height.
- The child SRIs we use must be approved by any of the two regulations currently in force: ECE R44 / 04 and R129 or i-Size. However, it is important to remember that the i-Size regulation will eventually replace the ECE R44 / 04, so we should inform ourselves of the changes that this will entail.
Children cannot travel in the front seats of the vehicle except in three exceptions: that the vehicle does not have rear seats (two-seater vehicles); that all rear seats are occupied by other minors with their respective restraint system; that restraint systems cannot be installed in said seats.
It is important take into account the weight, size and age of our child when placing him in a SRIWell, not everything goes. Remember that the seats should not be a "fine remover", but a system that really guarantees that our child travels safely in it.
In this regard, when choosing a chair, it is worth knowing that the R129 or i-Size regulations divide them by weight and height intervals, while the ECE R44 regulations do so in groups.
- And last but not least, remember the importance of traveling backwards as long as possible, or at least up to 15 months (if we use a chair approved under the i-Size regulations).
In Babies and More Please, never take your child in the car without a suitable child restraint system, child seats misused in the car, more common than we think, ECE R129 or i-Size for car seats, What does the new phase come into force ?, Remember: as of October 1, children always in the back seat, Child restraint systems: groups
