By car, it is recommended to position your baby well in your car seat. Moreover, the law strictly frames this installation.
From the first car trips, a toddler must be installed in an approved car seat, attached and be positioned back to the road. It is an obligation. It can be placed at the rear or at the front of the vehicle, provided you remain oriented in the opposite direction of the walking. If you opt for the passenger seat, you imperatively consider cutting the airbag to avoid any danger. But when can you consider returning your car seat?
Until what age should a child be installed back to the road?
Until recently, the rules of road safety for children were not always easy to understand for parents. But since September 1, 2024, a new regulation applies in France, but also in Europe: the ECE-R129 standard, also called “I-Size”. It replaces the old system based on the child’s weight with a more concrete criterion: its size, as for clothing. From now on, a child must travel back to the road until the age of minimum 15 months, provided that it measures at least 76 cm. Before, the limit was set at 9 kg, a weight that some babies reached at the age of 6 months. For the authorities, beyond 15 months, if your child is seated and he feels comfortable in this position, it is then possible to install him in a Bay seat with a harness or in a car seat with a protective table. This seat is suitable up to a meter and can be installed at the rear of the vehicle, facing the road.
Even if the standard imposes the age of minimum 15 months, experts as a security, specialized in the safety of car seats for babies, recommend extending this position up to 4 years. According to them, traveling back to the road would be five times safer in the event of a shock at 50 km/h. “Even if they are able to hold their heads and sit early, it is only around 4 years old that the neck becomes fairly robust to better take the violence of an impact,” they explain on their site.
Later, your child will be able to go to the booster. “”The size and corpulence of the child requires installing it in a reinforcement seat with backrest up to its 10th anniversary. A seat can be approved for several weight groups (15 to 25 kg and 22 to 36 kg approximately) or sizes“, Recalls the road safety site. Namely that if the parent does not comply with this obligation, it can be sanctioned by a flat -rate fine of 135 euros, which can be increased up to 750 euros.
Why should you put your child back on the road by car?
If pediatricians and road safety specialists recommend placing baby back to the road, it is no coincidence. At birth, his muscles are not yet trained and his cervicals are far too fragile to take a frontal shock. In case of accidents, this position protects its head, neck and spine much better. This is the reason why the car seat must be oriented back to the road, Preferably at the back of the car. Recall that the child must be placed in a semi-drained position and held by the 3-point safety belts from the vehicle.
