Child in the car

2011
According to Law on road traffic:  

While transporting a child who is less than 135 cm tall in a car, van or truck, one must use a children’s safety device which is determined by the weight of the child, if the vehicle has a seatbelt or the safety device can be installed into the vehicle through other means.  

Children under three years old can not be transported at all in cars, vans or trucks, where the appropriate weight-determined safety device can not be installed. Taxi cabs are the exception to this rule.   

Children over three years old being transported in cars, vans or trucks, must travel someplace other than the front seat, if the appropriate safety device is unavailable for some reason.    

In a bus, a child must - regardless of the age - use either a seatbelt that has been installed into the seat or a children’s safety device. 

Rear-facing seats

Safest for small children are infant seats and infant carriers that are installed with the child’s back to the driving direction. This type of instalment is recommended, since a head-on collision is the most forceful - in comparison to impact from other directions - and the most common type of collision.  

When the child faces the rear of the car, the child’s head and neck receive the best possible support to withstand collision forces. The securing instructions of the safety device state whether the device has been approved for rear-facing installation or not.      

According to recommendations, a child should travel rear-facing as long as he/she is able to fit in the seat, but at least until the child turns three years old.


Approved safety seats

E approval signifies compliance with the regulations of the European Economic Commission. The regulation defines common requirements for approval of children’s safety devices that are used in cars. The devices have been divided into the following weight and age groups:    

group 0          less than 10 kg  
group 0+        less than 13 kg
group 1          9-18 kg
group 2          15-25 kg
group 3          22-36 kg


The sign of approval is a circle which contains the letter E. Next to the letter E there is the number of the country which has approved the device.  

T approval: a recommended additional approval  

T approval means compliance with the type approval requirements of the Swedish traffic safety agency. In order to receive this sign of approval, the acceleration level - which is directed at the head, thus stretching the cervical spine - must not exceed a force of 20 g. So far, no front-facing safety seat has met this demand. Therefore, T approval has only been granted to rear-facing safety seats.    



T approval is a recommended additional approval. 

>> continued

Seatbelt

Child in the car

Car tyres

Mobile phone


Green info sheets
Yellow info sheets
Blue info sheets


   Print out pdf

Liikenneturva
http://www.liikenneturva.fi