Parents must belt kids up
New child car restraint laws which come into effect tomorrow are still confusing Bunbury parents, according to the owner of a local baby goods store.
Better Baby Deals Bunbury proprietor Michael Zaknic said while sales of child booster seats had increased dramatically, he said parents were still unsure about what restraint was mandatory for their child.
"People are still confused despite the promotion and advertisement of the law," he said.
Sgt Gerard Murphy said the new car restraint laws would come into effect to help save the lives of children.
"From birth to six months, babies need to be in a rear-facing seat with an internal harness," Sgt Murphy said.
"From six months to four years they must be in a child restraint with a built-in, five-point harness that is anchored to the seat."
Children aged four to seven are now also required to be seated in a child restraint booster seat that can be used with a lap sash seatbelt.
Sgt Murphy said the main changes to the law were regarding the four to seven age group and the built-in restraints required for a child up to the age of four.
Further changes to the seatbelt laws mean there is to be only the same number of people in a car as there are seatbelts.
People in breach of the new child restraint laws will incur a $500 to $900 fine.
"Not wearing a seatbelt is a major cause of fatal accidents and parents need to take responsibility to make sure their child is correctly restrained," Sgt Murphy said.
Some parents have told the South Western Times they would not be buying a booster seat for their child aged between four and seven years, but Sgt Murphy said there would be no grace period and cited a case of a three-year-old girl who was not in a booster seat and died after she was involved in a crash at 40kmh.
Mr Zaknic said parents who were confused should visit a specialist car seat store to get the right advice.
He said car seats bought from his store were fitted free of charge.
Parents can also visit www.childcarrestraints.com.au for more information.
