The DGT warns: child restraint systems are still an outstanding issue

The latest DGT campaign on the use of child restraint systems detected up to 232 minors travelling without any device

There is no excuse for driving a vehicle leaving the safety and life of minors to chance, much less for them to travel without any child restraint system, known by its acronym SRI, to hold their bodies in the event of an accident.

Even so, up to 232 cases were reported by the officers responsible for traffic matters during the latest campaign promoted by the Directorate-General for Traffic to check the use of the various child seats and of the seat belt in cases where the 135 cm limit established for dispensing with SRIs is exceeded.

Of the 402,981 vehicles examined, up to 4,000 infractions relating to the use of the mandatory restraint system were recorded, whether by drivers or by passengers. 3,768 of them were adults and the remaining 232 were minors.

During the week in which this DGT campaign was carried out in collaboration with the Traffic Group of the Guardia Civil and other local and regional police forces, the officers reported up to 232 drivers for transporting minors in an irregular situation.

Of the minors detected, up to 63 were travelling in the front seats without using any type of restraint system and the remaining 169 were travelling unrestrained in the rear seats.

Passenger cars and conventional roads, the most penalised pairing

According to the data provided by the DGT, of the 4,000 cases detected, up to 3,160 reports were issued to people travelling in passenger cars, 704 in vehicles intended for the transport of goods, 87 in taxis and 49 in buses.

On the other hand, most of the reports were made on conventional roads to people driving private passenger cars; up to 2,409 infractions were penalised in this context (road-vehicle), with the consequent fine, for a total of 2,941 irregularities detected on conventional roads compared with the 1,059 recorded on motorways or dual carriageways.

Almost a third of the penalties were detected on conventional roads, which means that passengers in passenger cars travelling on conventional roads are the most likely to carry minors without the mandatory child restraint systems.

This is when the Directorate-General for Traffic sounds the alarm, since, based on the statistics handled by the agency, up to 8 out of every 10 fatalities lose their lives on conventional roads. In 2018 alone, 185 fatalities travelling in passenger cars or vans were not using the mandatory seat belt.

When minors can stop using child restraint systems

With regard to minors with a height less than or equal to 135 cm, it should be recalled that they are required to travel with a child restraint system that is suited to their weight and height.

That said, it should be borne in mind that not all child seats or booster seats have or offer the same levels of protection, so we strongly recommend always reviewing the best and worst SRIs before buying one.

These devices must be installed in the rear seats, as a mandatory requirement, and only in these three cases may they be fitted in the front:

• If the vehicle has no rear seats
• When all the rear seats are already occupied by other minors with the same characteristics
• If it is not possible to install all the child restraint systems in those rear seats