Travelling with children: Keeping a check on car seat safety

Michelle Whittaker from Little Buds checks Oscar Pratt's (19 months) car seat while mum Lydia Pratt waits. Photo/ Bevan Conley

The instruction booklet is the most important part of a child's car seat, Plunket says.

Plunket and Horizons Regional Council with help from the police held child restraint stops around Whanganui on Tuesday ensuring each child-carrying vehicle had an appropriate car seat and that it was fitted correctly.

Horizons roadsafe co-ordinator Glenda Leitao said it was about using the seats right to ensure they were effective.

"It's not so much that people aren't using car restraint seats, it's that they're not fitted correctly," she said.

Mrs Leitao said nearly 70 per cent of seats are incorrectly fitted in some way.

People often had more than one vehicle and when seats were switched between cars regularly, sometimes they weren't set up right.

Horizons funds Plunket to carry out the checks.

Plunket recommends putting any child under 148cm in a car seat while the law requires anyone under 7 to be restrained in a car seat.

Mrs Leitao said people could always seek advice from Plunket.

Plunket education and advocacy co-ordinator Veronica Fieldsend said one difficulty was that New Zealand imported seats with standards from varying countries.

"It is confusing because there are so many different seats that are allowed in New Zealand. It's just a matter of education," she said.

"This is your child's safety."