Petition Change the law on child car seats to require a rear-facing seat for all children aged 0-4 years

UK legislation only requires a rear-facing car seat for children that weigh up to 9kg – approx. 9-10 months old. However, evidence clearly shows that a rear-facing seat is five times safer and that all children weighing 18kg – approx. 4 years should remain rear facing to increase car safety. The USA now requires a rear-facing seat for children aged 0-2 and many Scandinavian nations place requirements to the age of 4 years. The UK lags ways behind. The EU has called for rear-facing seats to the age of 3 years but no action has been taken. This situation is compounded because the UK retail market does not supply a wide range of affordable rear-facing seats for babies and small children.

The Government should strengthen existing legislation to require the use of rear-facing car seats for all children aged 0-4 and encourage the UK retailers to offer a wider range of affordable rear-facing seats.