How do I transport my child safely in the car?

The fact that there is a Child Safety Task Force says enough about the importance of transporting children safely in the car. Research by the same team shows that 73% of parents do not safely take children from 0 to 4 years with them in their car, while they themselves think that there is nothing in the air. Time to talk about children and cars and how to get on the road safely.

In the past 5 years, the number of hospital admissions of children (0 to 12 years) involved in a road accident increased by 35%. Every year, 160,000 children end up in the emergency room and 19,000 of them have to stay for admission. Nearly 4,400 children are so seriously injured that they are physically limited for the rest of their lives. One ray of hope, however, is that the number of deaths is declining, partly thanks to improved acute medical care.

Children and cars: how should it be done?

Almost three quarters of the children in the car are not completely safe. 15% are in the wrong seat, because parents often grab a larger car seat too quickly. For 33% of the car seats, the seat is not properly secured and for 41% the seat is good, but the child is not. You notice: work to be done.

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An approved child seat

Let’s start with the child seat. A good child seat for the car is approved according to regulation 44 (R44 / 04 standard) or R129 of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (a mouthful, UN-ECE for short). If the car seat has been approved, you will see this on the approval label. Children under 1.35 meters must be in an approved and appropriate child restraint system.

Installing the car seat

If you have an approved child seat, it is still the intention that the child seat is properly and safely placed in the car. Do you have a three-door car and do you find it difficult to put the car seat in the back? It is also allowed in the front, if you turn off the airbag and put the car seat against the direction of travel.

Tip: just practice getting the car seat in and out of the car if you have time. This way you don’t have to rush out on the street with your little one, with the risk that the seat will eventually not be properly secured.

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Use the belt to secure the car seat

You secure the car seat with the belt. A new standard is ‘i-Size’. This is the successor to the Isofix and they are easy to recognize by a special logo. These i-Size seats can be used universally on approved seats: i-Size ready. Cars built after 2013 are i-Size ready. 

Extra tip: take other things into account

Not only your child and car seat go with you in the car. Often you also have a diaper bag, the stroller, a camp bed and so on. If you have a smaller car, choose a pram that is easily foldable and where you can turn those wheels. Or buy a larger car, of course you can.