Riverina Highway Patrol says a recent collision in the region highlighted the importance of child car seat safety. Photo: Traffic and Highway Patrol Command – NSW Police Force.
With the Labour Day long weekend approaching, Riverina Police are urging parents and caregivers to ensure children are properly secured in their car seats.
Police said Riverina Highway Patrol officers responded to a motor vehicle collision near Coolamon earlier this week (1 October), highlighting the critical importance of ensuring child car seats are correctly secured, and children are appropriately fastened.
“During this collision, a young child was seated in an appropriate child car seat,” said a spokesperson from Traffic and Highway Patrol Command.
“It was secured using both the anchor strap and ISOFIX, with the inbuilt harness fastened correctly over the child’s shoulders and across the hips.
“The child suffered only very minor cuts, and the driver, the only other occupant, also sustained minor injuries.”
Police are also reminding motorists that officers will be out in full force targeting dangerous driving this long weekend as part of Operation Labour Day.
Operation Labour Day commenced at 12:01 am on Friday (4 October), and concludes at 11:59 pm on Monday (7 October). Double demerits will be in place for the duration of the operation.
During the operation, police will target drunk and drug driving, fatigue, mobile phone use, speeding, seat belt, and helmet offences.
Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander, Acting Assistant Commissioner David Driver, hopes motorists will travel safely this weekend.
“We want everyone to enjoy their long weekend with friends and family, so we are urging all motorists to plan and prepare for their trips, no matter how long they may be,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Driver said.
“This means not driving while tired, taking breaks on long trips, driving to the conditions, and not getting behind the wheel if you’ve been drinking alcohol, taken illicit drugs, or are impaired in any way.
“I urge all road users to be responsible on the road and encourage passengers to speak up if they are uncomfortable with the driving behaviour – it could save lives, including your own.”
NSW Child Car Seat Regulations
In NSW, children must be safely buckled in car seats that are appropriate for their age and size:
Up to six months: Children must be secured in an approved rear-facing child car seat.
Six months to four years: Children must be in either a rear- or forward-facing child car seat with an inbuilt harness.
Under four years: Children cannot travel in the front seat if the vehicle has two or more rows.
Four to seven years: Children must use a forward-facing child car seat with an inbuilt harness or an approved booster seat. They cannot sit in the front seat unless all rear seats are occupied by younger children.
Seven to 16 years: If too small for a standard seatbelt, children should use a booster seat or an approved child safety harness with the vehicle’s seatbelt.
If you are unsure, there are authorised installation providers available in most locations that can check to make sure your car seat is installed correctly. Otherwise, pop into your local police station and a highway patrol officer may be able to check them for you.
Plan your trip by downloading the Live Traffic NSW app, visiting livetraffic.com, calling 132 701, or using the TfNSW journey planning tool myjourneynsw.info.
Members of the public are urged to report motorists engaged in dangerous driving to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Loading ...
