Posted By Ucan I am after a little advice if anyone can help:... A mother drives an R reg Hyuandai Coupe SE, this vehicle is a 2 door four seater car, so the rear of the vehicle only has TWO seat belts. Mother has four children all under the age of 11. 1 year old is in the passenger seat, 5, 8 and 11 year old is in the rear of the vehicle and two of the children are strapped in using same seat belt..... I personally think the mother is breaking the law as you should never strap two children in a vehicle using one seat belt. But......the welfare officer states that due to the nature of the age of the vehicle its ok to strap two kids in using one seat belt???? I think she is totally wrong here, anyone else provide me with more info?

Posted By A Campbell If the seatbelt is designed to strap one person in... then you should only use safety devices as they are designed and not retrofit! More than likely the person who decided to strap 2 people in thought it would be better than allowing 1 child to have no protection at all?

Posted By Ali You could try the ROSPA website, though I agree that it is dangerous whatever the age of the car. I don't think the age of the car is a "licence" to exceed the occupancy of a vehicle.

Posted By John Richards Taxis are exempt

Posted By John Richards 9. What if I am carrying more children than I can fit car seats? All children up to 135 cms in height MUST use the correct child restraint and therefore you may not carry more children than there are child restraints . However, if a car has 3 seat belts in the rear, and 2 occupied child seats or boosters prevent the fitting of a third, a third child 3 years or over may then use an adult belt in the rear. If there is room, it would be safer for the third child to travel in the front seat and use the correct child seat or booster. See below about air-bags in front seats. www.lanpac.co.uk/seatbelt.doc

Posted By Sheila EJ Keogh glad i'm not one of her children!!

Posted By Sheila EJ Keogh Yep, quite possibly, although equally possible she's nearly half my age. (i'm 41, as already admitted on another posting). I know it's tough when money's tight (have been there before, and am there again at the moment), but i'd rather go without favourite foods, night out, clothes etc than compromise my child's safety.

Posted By Faye At the risk of provoking a very emotive response, i would be inclined to ask your mum how she would feel if, during a RTA, something happened to one of the children? The reason I ask is that the devastating consequence is something you have to live with. My 19 month old nephew was killed in a RTA due to him not being securely belted in, in the vehicle he was travelling. My family know only too well! I'm not after sympathetic responses but just need to raise awareness. Does your mum really want to have to face this?

Posted By John Richards Well, the child will be sitting in the middle, so he/she would be propelled through the w/screen in the event of an incident. At least the driver/passenger will not have the back of their head smashed !

Posted By Ucan I contacted the department of transport and this is what they said: The first thing is that two children (or an adult & child) should never share the same seat belt. There is much more danger of crush injuries in the event of a collision and if a police officer saw this he could well consider that to be an offence under regulation 100 of the Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations, the requirement to carry passengers in a safe manner, which says:- If there are three designated rear seats in the vehicle but only two seat belts the 5 and 8 year old's should be carried in the appropriate child car seat or booster seat suitable for their weight, ie held in by a seat belt. Seat belt law allows that: a) where there is a rear seat without a seat belt fitted a child aged 3 years & over may sit unrestrained. However if the 3 children are being put into only two designated rear seats then, again this could be considered carrying passengers in a dangerous manner in contravention of regulation 100. This section: Seat belt law allows that: a) where there is a rear seat without a seat belt fitted a child aged 3 years & over may sit unrestrained. So reading this, I am taking it that a child aged 3 could sit unrestrained?..................

Posted By Alan Haynes To find out how many 'seats' your car has - look at the Registration Certificate [what I knew as the 'Log Book' - but then, I'm ancient] For example - a Ford Ka [I also have one] is shown as having 4 seats

Posted By Mitch Deja Vu thingy

Posted By Sheila EJ Keogh Anyway, hope Ucan doesn't feel that he or the mother is being lambasted by us all.

Posted By Sheila EJ Keogh Ucan, the number of injuries to children aged under 12 has reduced by 1000 in a year, since new child restraint law came into effect (according to RoSPA's press release): http://www.rospa.com/new.../pr627_25_09_08_road.htm