First published in The Herald Sun on May 5 2017
Words by Elise Elliot
“It was scary. This guy pulled out from a side street right in front of me. I slammed on my brakes and swerved to try to miss him. My first thought was my children,” says Melbourne mum Isla Swanston.
A car crash is frightening for any driver. For Swanston it was truly terrifying; she was pregnant and had two children on-board.
“I put my left hand across my seven-year-old daughter, Bonnie, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. My four-year-old son, Noah, was in a booster seat in the middle of the back of the car,” Swanston says.
“I was OK, but my kids were hurt in the accident, complaining of sore chests. My son was having trouble breathing. My daughter ended up with my handprint across her chest because I held her in her seat. She also suffered abdominal bruising from her seatbelt.”
It’s a disturbingly common scenario.
Part of the problem lies with child safety restraints.
First, most parents are confused about the current law. As a mother of a seven-year-old daughter, I’m guilty of this. Isn’t seven the magic number when I can move her out of child restraints? She can sit in the front seat now, can’t she? Many mums and dads are puzzled about what’s right and what’s wrong.
Second, even if they do know the laws, parents often give in to pester power; children complain they’ve outgrown their “baby” seat and beg to sit in the front of the car. Too often busy mums and dads — juggling shopping, schoolbags and other kids — acquiesce.
Third, many experts now argue the current laws regarding child safety restraints are too soft and need to be strengthened.
Let’s start with the current law. Under Victoria’s child restraint road rules, all children under age seven must legally be seated in a correctly fitted child restraint or booster seat. Children over seven can use a booster seat or an adult seatbelt in an adult seat.
Experts, such as Teague, want them to be stricter, saying there’s a big difference between legal minimum requirements and what’s safest.
“There is a sense that ‘if it’s legal, it must be safe’. Parents think if some sort of restraint is on, they’ve ticked that box,” Teague says.
The reality is far more horrific. Teague sees first-hand the devastating cases of death and injury because children are not put into the right-fitting restraint for their age and size.
“If a small child sits in a car seat designed for an adult, the child can’t bend their legs around the front of the seat. This means they’ll slouch and the lap belt will be poorly positioned across the tummy and the sash piece across the neck,” Teague says.
“If a crash occurs, that lap belt hits the tummy, transferring the full force of the crash through the intestines and internal organs, breaking them and causing internal bleeding until the belt reaches the spine, and that’s when spinal injuries occur.
“The poorly positioned sash crossing the neck also causes life-threatening whiplash, with injuries to the spine, windpipe and major blood vessels to the brain.”
These are preventable injuries — caused because the seatbelt was not the right size for the child.
The best child restraint distributes the forces of a crash over the strongest parts of the child’s body — the strong bones of the shoulders, the breast plate and hips.
To do this, the size and shape of the restraint needs to match the size and shape of the child. It is not a one-size-fits-all situation.
“People have become very fixated on age as a determinant of what restraint a child should be using. But all the information we have says that age is not a good predictor. It’s all about size,” Teague says.
She says research shows adult seatbelts only start to fit people properly when they reach 145cm.
That’s when a seatbelt sits across the strongest bones of the body. It’s taller than you think; most children don’t reach this height until they are aged 10-12.
“Parents should use the height — not the age — of their child as the guide and keep them in child restraints until they reach about 145cm,” Marko says.
“We approached the TAC and VicRoads, saying there needs to be a resource to not only educate people about the current laws, but reveal what’s actually safest for children.”
The TAC and VicRoads have now commissioned a safety campaign, Child Restraints and Booster Seats — What You Need To Know, detailing the best way to transport your child. VicRoads concedes the current law provides only a minimum standard with which all parents and caregivers must comply when transporting children. But it acknowledges children grow at different rates and there’s often a big difference in the heights of children the same age.
“For this reason, we recommend parents and carers choose the type of restraint that is best for their child’s size,” says VicRoads director, road user and vehicle access, Robyn Seymour.
Marko adds: “Until the current laws change, let’s view them as a minimum requirement,
and if we know there’s a better way to protect our children, we should do it.”
ELAA says another way to check if your child is ready for an adult seat is the five-step test:
1. Can the child sit with their back against the vehicle seat?
2. Do the child’s knees bend in front of the edge of the seat?
3. Does the sash belt sit across the middle of the shoulder, not on the neck or out near the arm?
4. Is the lap belt sitting low across the hips, touching the thighs?
5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?
Even then, the safest place for a child is in the rear seat until they are at least 12. It might not be the coolest place to sit, but it is definitely the safest.
ELAA recommends babies be kept rearward-facing for as long as they fit in that position in their child restraint.There are now child restraints that keep babies rearward facing until they are two and a half years old.The current law says children up to at least four must travel in a restraint with an internal harness and buckle.
However, ELAA says there are now such restraints designed to fit children up to the age of about eight.
And if children upgrade to a booster seat, there are models that will fit them up to about 12.
Parents can probably hear howls of protest from their young ones. There’s a temptation to give in to badgering, whingeing children.
Swanston admits she had a stand-off with her daughter about child restraints in the Highpoint Shopping Centre carpark right before her accident.
“Bonnie’s seven and wanted to sit in the front seat,” she says. “I wanted her to sit in the back. She was nagging and nagging me. I gave in and said, ‘Fine, get in the front seat’.
“Then my four-year-old, Noah, said he wanted to sit in the middle of the back so he could look out the front window as well.”
It was a risk this mother of four will never take again: “I don’t care if I have to sit in the Highpoint carpark for 10 hours, I’m going to ensure my kids are buckled in safely and that they have the right restraints on.”
Teague, a father of three sons, agrees.
“My boys have to suffer a very strict, sometimes grumpy father who insists upon the safest possible restraint for them,” he says.
“Recently on my son’s seventh birthday, he was excited because he thought he’d outgrown his booster seat. I had to have that difficult conversation with him and say, ‘Sorry, even though you’re seven, you’re not tall enough’.
“Of course, there were tears welling up in his eyes.
“You might cop some flak from your children, or even your peers, about getting tough on car restraints. But if you do have an accident, you don’t want to regret the decision you made immediately before that; the decision to let your child ride in the front seat or go without their booster that day. Especially if they are killed or injured.
“These are the decisions that can sadly haunt parents forever.”
WHICH RESTRAINT DO I USE FOR MY CHILD?
CURRENT LAW
CHILDREN UNDER SIX MONTHS MUST:
•Use a rearward-facing restraint properly fitted to the vehicle and adjusted to fit the child’s body correctly.
• Not travel in the front seat of a vehicle that has a back row or rows of seats.
CHILDREN SIX MONTHS TO FOUR MUST:
• Use a rearward-facing restraint or a forward-facing child restraint with an in-built harness that is properly fitted to the vehicle and adjusted to fit the child’s body correctly.
• Not travel in the front seat of a vehicle that has a back row or rows of seats.
CHILDREN FOUR TO SEVEN MUST:
• Use a forward-facing child restraint with an in-built harness or a booster seat with a properly fastened and adjusted seatbelt.
• Not travel in the front seat of a vehicle that has a back row or rows of seats unless all the other back seats are occupied by children also under seven. If they sit in the front seat in this situation, children must sit in a booster seat that does not have a top tether strap.
CHILDREN OVER SEVEN MUST:
• Use a booster seat with a properly fastened and adjusted adult seatbelt or an adult seat with an adult seatbelt.
49 comments for “How old should a child stay in a car booster seat?”
Julie Stava
Why just child issue! As a large breasted women I am yet to sit in a car in any position that the seatbelt isn’t across my neck! If involved in a crash my head would be cut off at the neck! The seatbelt is NEVER across my chest!!!!
Jenni Miller
Yes!! I spend every trip in the car dragging the sear belt from across my neck!! It is so unsafe and yet it will not stay across my chest.
Anne Myers
what about the harness that we used to use …it seemed to be a great alternative when you had 3 children in the back seat with 2 still in car seats ….and please lets design a height chart for kids to see they are too short and until they reach the height requirement…..maybe something bright and happy but until they reach the top of it …they have to stay in a booster …….its not an option …its the law …..this needs to be cheap or free and available to all parents and grandparents etc…..bit like rides at the theme parks …if your not tall enough you cant ride ………if your not tall enough …you stay in a booster …….and in the back seat …..lets make kids as safe as we possibly can …..
Jennifer Mok
Great idea Anne!
Sonia
A lot of my friends and myself have the same problem Julie.
Ebony
AMEN!! I’m a 16G in the girls and urgh it’s so frustrating when the seatbelt doesn’t stay across the chest 🙁
Sandy
The big difference is that a child’s bones are not fully developed or hardened until age 12+ so in an accident a seatbelt is going to cause far more damage to a child than an adult.
Alice Knichala
Exactly. Seat belt naturally wrap around my neck. I doubt I would survive a car crash.
Tegan
There needs to be advertisements about child car safety. Hardly anyone has their child restrained correctly and many still believe it to be a milestone moving their baby out of rear facing at 6 months old. Other westernized countries have laws that require them to rear face until 2-4years old!
I have tried to help educate but because it doesn’t seem common knowledge it falls on deaf ears. I would much rather my 2 year old son to come out with a leg injury then a brain injury or decapitated head!
Rachel
I agree, I get pressured to turn my son to forward facing because he is ‘too big’ for rear facing… he is small for his age and only 20 months!! Maybe an ad campaign on tv or radio might help?
Vicki
As a parent involved in an serious crash (that very nearly ended my life and that of my children) I am very concerned about these laws. My children were well restrained and thankfully only suffered very minor injuries. However the height should be the law not the age. I have seen many young children sit in the front seat and have an almost 7 year old who is in no hurry to sit in the front seat after she saw the damage my airbags did to me. There should be more education around this issue as there are way too many injuries in children that are easily preventable if they are educated.
Kylie
Airbags concern me too because I’m only 152cm tall (shorter than an average 13 year old).
Nikki
The other thing is that height is ridiculously easy for the police to police! They can carry a thingamajig in the patrol car to check the height of a child – so much easier than trying to judge a child’s age! And with measurement indicators on car seats now (shoulders above here, below here etc) it makes it easier for them to see whether a smaller child is in a correct restraint.
Bree
Australian car seat laws are ridiculously slack but thanks to the manufacturers there are some great seats on the market that enable young children to rearward face until around 4 years and stay in a harnessed seat forward facing until 8 years.
There are also boosters that can seat children until around 10-12 years.
The laws do not reflect the need for safety but as an educated parent we can make the choice to keep our children safer for longer whilst on the road.
This is a great facebook page which has taught me heaps about car seat safety over the years.
Australian car seat laws are ridiculously slack but thanks to the manufacturers there are some great seats on the market that enable young children to rearward face until around 4 years and stay in a harnessed seat forward facing until 8 years.
There are also boosters that can seat children until around 10-12 years.
The laws do not reflect the need for safety but as an educated parent we can make the choice to keep our children safer for longer whilst on the road.
Kathryn
I agree that there are fantastic seats whoever for low income earners those seats are way out of reach for affordability. I would love to buy an extended rear facing seat for my 2yo but can not afford the $450+ price tag. My 5 yo is tall and is above most markers for harnessed boosters (ones I can afford) so he is in an adult belt with in the booster that he fits 🙂
Bree
Take two
This is the great FB page mentioned in the above post which I seemed to have posted twice…whoops
https://www.facebook.com/groups/childrestraints/
j
rear facing till age 4? so where do their legs go?
in the event of an accident their legs would be squashed.
booster seat till 12? so i’ll take my high school son in a booster seat? sorry my kid at now age 10 is way to big for a booster chair – because his head would have no support / it’ll be near the roof and right opposite the back window so in a smash glass all around his head… sorry who is making these suggestions?
also all cars are different in terms of depth of seats so just having the standard 145cm rule / until their legs bend over the chair – not consistent..
too much cotton balling if you ask me.. age 7 maybe age 8 is a good enough rule to me
N
Are you serious cotton balling? Advancement in car seats safety is not cottom balling.
Car seat manufacturers have spent heaps of time and money to make safer seats for all aged kids, they rigorously test them so i think there recommendations are valid. And its not just based on age anymore its based on seated height (roughly top of shoulders to bottom when seated).
Rear facing until 4 is the best practice for kids their legs are fine, simply tuck up and in the event of an accident yes they may be damaged but a broken leg is a lot easier to fix than internal decapitation. If you dont believe me do some research.
There are booster seats that will fit 10-12 year olds seated height, go and look at baby bunting, baby warehouse. And the thought of embarrassment doesn’t even compare to safety.
Also once in a normal seat, they need to have the sash of the seat belt across the correct area so they dont get damaged organs or get internal bleeding in an accident. Also cuts on their face will heal.
A childs bones are much able to take the impact of an accident when they are older thus the position recommendations for a booster until they can do so. Until them a booster will cushion any impact.
So I think listening to the manufacturers of the child restraint manufacturers and the RCH who treat those injured is best.
Ange
There is a big difference between “cotton balling” and ensuring that your children have the best chance of survival in the unfortunate event of a serious car accident.
N
J, you have missed the point entirely. The article states – more than once – that the measure of a child needing a carseat or booster is the child’s height, not the child’s age. If, at 10, your son’s head is above the top of the booster and would be hitting the roof of the car then clearly your son is too large for that booster and would most likely meet the 5-step test sitting on the seat with a lap-sash set belt. Kids come in all shapes and sizes – which is why age is not an appropriate predictor – and other 10 year olds still won’t meet the 5-step test. Those kids are not safe in an adult seat belt without a booster. The seat belt itself can cause serious injury, particularly to the neck and abdomen, in the event of even a minor accident. If you think that protecting children from unnecessary injury is ‘cotton balling’, I’d suggest you do some further reading and educate yourself on the topic at hand before commenting. Unfortunately, it’s people just like you, J, who necessitate such black and white laws because you seem incapable of comprehending information presented to you and applying it with common sense. And who’s making theses suggestions? Read the article, J – the doctors who are cleaning up the mess of injured and dying kids who have been improperly restrained in a car accident are the people making these recommendations. I reckon I’ll listen to their advice rather than yours.
Karyn
I’m so tired of this debait without any1 seeing the bigger issues being that the boosters are not made to support children till they are 8 let alone 12… my 5 yes 5 yo is now out of her booster I have no alternative to offer her her body is 35cm long from butt to shoulder and there is no booster that goes higher than that the seatbelt sits below her shoulder and then slips off it if she is in an accident while in a booster she will slip out and go through the window But yet she’s only 125cm tall and now yet at the required hight to be in a adult seatbelt. They have ban the booster bum seats which is really the only other option I had for her
Mel
To the lady that thinks her 5 year old is too big for a booster. I hope you educate yourself the encore 10 booster seat has an exit marker of 55cm and an entry marker of 36cm. Your daughter is not too big. She only just meets the entry marker size
Susan
Karyn, I’m not sure where you’re getting your information from but unless you’ve typed your daughters torso height wrong, then there are plenty of seats out there that she will fit in. There are fully harnessed seats that have an exit height of 51cms. My son is 9 and I’m about to upgrade him to a Safe-n-Sound Maxi Guard Pro so he can stay harnessed.
novmum
my 9 year old is just over 139cm….the seat belt doesn’t quite fit her correctly so she still requires a booster (a half one I live in NZ) my 7 yea r old is in a full booster and is 128cms so he has a while to go
Bree
J,
I won’t respond because N put it perfectly.
Karyn the Grandeur Treo has an exit marker of 51cm which means your child can remain in a 6 point harness until their seated height is 51cm
I would recommend that you join the page on this link. It will help to educate you on the options
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=121088671240495&ref=br_rs
Jo
Both of my car seats have markers sewn on them that state the child must be this height before the next setting can be used. My 17mth old is still rearward facing as he hasn’t reached the height marker yet my eldest hit the same marker at 8 mths old (now 4yrs old). I thought for car seats to be compliant in Victoria they had to have the markers sew onto it… The car seats i chose have the very high CREP rating, worth checking if you need a new seat.
Cherry
When changing cars from a 4WD to a small sedan to save on fuel, I was forced to buy all new seats to be able to fit 3 seats in the car. My choice in seats depended on the width of the seat not the quality which I found very concerning. I would like to see slimmer harness seats so families like mine can choose to keep children in them longer rather then changing over to booster seats. My children are aged 3,5 and 7 and all small in size so need to be in the rear seat and in boosters or harness seats.
JoD
I completely agree, I spent a lot on my first 2 seats and they are very highly rated. Now my only option to fit a 3rd is to downgrade all seats, buy a flimsy cheap booster to squeeze in the centre or buy a new car. My car is not tiny, it’s a medium sized family car but it’s almost impossible to fit 3 decent seats across.
Em
Completely agree! For my first two I did a lot of research and spent a lot of money. When we had a third we had to buy three new seats, luckily I’m happy with the quality but the fact that I had no choice and just had to go with whichever fit was very concerning.
Kylie
I’m only 152cm tall and I have trouble with seat belts cutting my neck and not sitting across my hips because my legs are short and the depth of the seat causes my pelvis to have to tilt so my knees can bend over the edge.
My 11 and 18 year old daughters are taller than me and still have the same problem.
I think something needs to be done about design of car seats and seat belts to make them more adjustable. My 14 year old son and my husband are the only ones in the family that can sit comfortably with the seatbelt in the right place. This is because their legs are long enough to sit so their pelvis doesn’t tilt.
The 145cm guide for safety in an adult seat is still too short in most cars.
My 11 year old is my youngest and she won’t be sitting in the front seat until she is 12, despite being taller than me already. I can’t take the risk with my child, even though I obviously risk my own safety in the front seats. The airbags could injure me also, because I’m so short.
N
Kylie, for an adult, it sometimes comes down to finding a car which ‘fits’ you. This can be tricky when you have other requirements as well (such as being able to carry a certain number of passengers, towing capacity, finances etc.) but you wouldn’t buy a pair of jeans which don’t fit you and you shouldn’t buy a car which doesn’t fit you. My brother in law was at the other end of the scale; at 6’8″ he has to buy cars which he can fold his frame into and not sit with his knees around his ears! It’s no different for people on the other end of the height spectrum. You need to find a car in which you can sit safely and comfortably.
T
I have the same issue and I’d highly recommend a small cushion on the back of the seat. Moves u forward just a little so seated properly.
Peggy
Me too! Though if you have a sliding height adjustment for the seatbelt where it comes from the car frame, it can sit lower and isn’t quite so strangulating. This is an option of course for shorter people as well.
Lesley
Even with the seat belt in the low position it still sits on my neck. I am sitting on a cushion to get more height but with short legs I have the seat in the closest position near the steering wheel so I can reach the pedals. I drive a Barina so a small car.
Nerissa
Yes i am short too and have always had the same problem with the seatbelt sitting above my shoulder, across my neck. As my kids are going to be taller than me, and my husband is taller, i can’t just find a car that is a good fit for me, because everyone else will be hitting the roof of the car! And i won’t be able to fit 4 kids either, never mind about the booster seats. I agree with Kylie, car manufacturers need to look at seat designs and seat belt designs, so that the seat belts can also fit adults appropriately. If we are going to be really serious about car safety, we need to look at the family unit as a whole, not just the safety of young children.
R
I totally agree that age related regulations are rubbish. In the school at which I teach the tallest year two student (7 year old) towers over the shortest year six child (11 years old). Sadly for this one, she should definitely be in a child seat while the year two would be OK without one. Bring in height regulations.
N’s comment about adults at the outer end of normal height ranges needing to buy cars which “fit” them is totally correct. We shall shortly be looking to buy a new car and have narrowed it down to a short list, with one vehicle seeming to be a stand out. But it all comes down to the test drive. If my (shortish) wife doesn’t fit, we don’t buy the car.
D.
Hello,
IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE THAT REALLY CARES FOR THE SAFETY OF CHILDREN?.
Now I have your attention, let’s look at that BIG ELEPHANT in the room.
SCHOOL BUSES AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT BUSES!
Talk about safety?
I have driven buses now for a good part of my career and can’t believe we honestly think it’s OK to place babies, preschoolers and infants on buses TOTALLY UNSECURED? What has society become?
We whinge and carrying on about safety of children in cars but when it comes to public transport this all seems to disappear?
Why?
Because Governments don’t really give damn about you your children all they want to do is justify the jobs of those that work in the road safety sector and appeal to that sector of society whom they would like to extract their next vote from. Call me facetious! You bet.
The truth is, it would cost many millions of dollars for the Government to implement adequate safety provisions for your child / children, therefor nothing happens.
I am just waiting for the day when a mobile phone user in a large vehicle ( we see them every day ) drifts to the other side of the road and head on into the bus I am driving which can have up to 80 children on board, with a large percentage not even seated!
This will be a catastrophe, innocent young lives will be lost and all for what? The ability to save a few bucks?
I for one would rather exist in deficit than to see any child lose there life over something so simple to fix.
Next time you board a bus with your child / baby ask yourself is this safe?
You know the answer already!
Lets get it done!
Lucy
D. I totally agree & I applaud you for being a concerned & caring bus driver. I hope everyone posting comments & reading comments on this issue take your comment & concerns seriously! I think a lot of people just assume buses are safe because they are bigger than a car.
My daughter refuses to use buses. She is unable to get a drivers licence & totally depends on me for transport including driving her 8 yr old daughter to & from school every day. So many times people have questioned why she doesnt use school buses & this is the exact reason!
There was an incident one morning when driving my granddaughter to school where a school Oosh Bus come speeding down a hill behind me in a 50k zone then tailgated me for the next 2 kms to the school. I approached the driver about how dangerous this was with children on board but she did not care & just walked off totally ignoring me. Not only that, she then parked the bus in a No Parking zone out front of the school & left it there all day. I reported my concerns to the school & the local council but all she got was a ‘warning’ about parking in a No Parking Zone. I’m just glad my granddaughter doesn’t travel on that bus!
I have also reported many issues with drivers illegally parking in the school zone & kids crossing the road dangerously but it seems all my concerns go on deaf ears.
Madden
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3798005/
In this study (10 year study of crashes involving children between ages of 2-8 seated in rear seats from a sample in the US) children using booster seats were MORE likely to have neck injury than those that didn’t use booster seats, with NO substantial difference in fatalities. Child safety first and foremost for me as a parent (bit of a helicopter parent I’ll admit) but fear can be a great motivator for overreaction, and just as good click bait for a story.
C
But LESS overall injury than children not restrained in booster seats.
Wil WARBURTON
I also have a problem with the seat belt cutting into my neck, and because I am only short, I also have the problem of keeping my body from sliding down on the seat until my feet touch the floor. It is not only children that have this problem. I am 152cm tall and 65 years old
Dee
I know someone who doesn’t use any booster seat for his 5 year old daughter. He wont listen to anyone about it. How should a situation like this be handled?
Jenny
I’ve had child restraints in my car for over 10 years now and not once have I ever been pulled over or checked by authorities to see if they are correct and or strapped in. That needs to change also! Community attitudes need to be changed. Proud to say my 10yro is still in a booster. No complaints!
Kerry
I have a friend whose 6 yr old son is short but weighs nearly in the late 30s or early 40kgs I can’t remember exactly tonight but how do you get a booster seat to fit him because he is to big and they restriction is max of 27 kgs on the ones she has seen so far. His just to wide for them and the straps don’t fit him so he hasn’t been able to fit in a child restraint for the last 2 yrs properly. I personally believe there needs to be seat made for bigger weighted kids if the don’t already. Tnx
Bree
Hi Kerry
Seats are now height based rather than weight based with some of the seats reaching 51cm seated height.
Get your friend to have a look at one of the local stores that sell car seats. Loads has changed in the last 12 months
Rebecca
My issue is not with the booster seat as such as my daughter now almost 13 stayed in her booster seat until after she was 10 and only came out because her shoulders got too wide for it; from my perspective it was safe and from hers it was comfy, especially for long trips which there were lots of.
My question is with an eleven year old and a thirteen year old in the back seat no boosters just lap-sash seat belts with a seven year old in a booster is it safer to have the booster in the middle (middle seat also has lap-sash seat belt) as the booster provides additional safety?
Anj
I use this for me as well as for my kids that are not in booster seats to adjust the belt so that it’s not strangling me:
https://www.target.com.au/p/brica-seat-belt-adjuster/58396421
Steven Lockstone
It could be terrifying for parents when not at fault accident happens and your children got hurt. When investigation proven that you neglected to follow the child safety in a car, parents for sure end up in jail. Your post is timely, many parents are updated with the current law that shared here. The big question is, “How many parents knows the currents law on child safety?”.
Shirley Austen
Never risk your children safety in a car. The updated child safety that shared here is very valuable even not parents. Sometimes, My daughter is 7 years old and begging me to seat beside me, as parent I should learn to say no to her.
-accident replacement vehicles
https://www.notmyfault.com.au/