Police – Keeping small passengers safe

I have to say that conducting road checkpoints is probably my least favourite policing activity. Even the most supportive and law-abiding people get irritated at the delay to their day. I guess that it’s hard to bear in mind that not every road user is as responsible as they should be, when you’re stuck in a line of traffic waiting for enforcement action that’s not aimed at you.

Recently, however, my staff and I were doing morning checkpoints with a slightly different focus. We were still on the lookout for the people who have no right to be behind the wheel of a car – the average prudent driver would be shocked at how many people are detected at those morning checkpoints over the alcohol limit. But over the last few weeks, we’ve also been involved in an ongoing road policing operation looking at child restraints. Along with the good folks at Auckland Transport (AT), police have been conducting road checkpoints dedicated to making sure that those most precious to us are as safe as possible during the trip to school.

It is the law that every child must travel in an approved child restraint until at least their seventh birthday. That means infant restraints for babies (sometimes called a baby capsule) and car seats with restraints for toddlers and preschool children. Booster seats are best left for those bigger preschoolers and school-aged children, and are always used with restraints or seatbelts. The simple rule for those bigger children using booster seats is, “It’s safer to wait until they’re 148”, so leave them in that booster until they are 148cm-high and have them travel in the back seat where possible. Kids love to put that school back-pack on as they leave the house, but please make sure they take it off when they’re travelling in the car.

Working alongside the team at AT certainly opened my eyes to possible safety issues. I now know that child car seats have an expiry date beyond which their structural integrity cannot be guaranteed. If it’s out-of-date, get rid of it! When you get that car seat, make sure its approved to NZ standards and read the installation instructions. An astonishing 93 per cent of all child car seats are installed incorrectly.

Our morning car seat checkpoints had a total focus on education and improvement. The AT team even handed out some replacement car seats where out-of-date car-seats were causing issues. I’m acutely aware that everyone wants their children safe and car travel is one of those times when their little bodies are most vulnerable. It only takes a couple of minutes to check that their car seat is fit for purpose and fitted the right way. To my mind, that’s time well spent on those most precious to us.