Bucket seats in the back of my 2+2. Childseats still needed?

Bucket seats in the back of my 2+2. Childseats still needed?

Author
Discussion

threadlock

Original Poster:

3,196 posts

253 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
My XKR has small bucket seats in the back. My eldest child, who's 8, fits in one perfectly without a booster seat, and the seat belt crosses her body comfortably below her neck. If she uses a booster seat her head touches the roof. So we don't put the booster under her.

I always carry a spare seat in case I'm stopped by plod, but I'd hope plod would be reasonable if I did get stopped. Is the law black and white on this? Is there ever a justification for not using a childseat because of the size and design of the car's existing seats?

Edited by threadlock on Saturday 25th April 11:09

Magic919

14,126 posts

200 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
I an see your argument and it's the same in some of my cars. I couldn't see any flexibility in the law regarding them.

I'd recommend the Bubble Bum booster. It's inflatable.

threadlock

Original Poster:

3,196 posts

253 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Magic919 said:
I'd recommend the Bubble Bum booster. It's inflatable.
Ah, interesting, thanks!

Octoposse

2,152 posts

184 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
I'm happy to stick my five year old in the back of my 944 without a booster seat - the '+2' is retentive and fits perfectly. Have a booster seat for the front, which is where he usually is.

Vaud

50,289 posts

154 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Octoposse said:
I'm happy to stick my five year old in the back of my 944 without a booster seat - the '+2' is retentive and fits perfectly. Have a booster seat for the front, which is where he usually is.
Isn't it more to do with the issue of seatbelt height in event of an accident rather than seat height, per se?

MrTrilby

934 posts

281 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
threadlock said:
the seat belt crosses her body comfortably below her neck.
It's also important to check where the lap belt is sitting on her - it needs to go across her hips, and not across her stomach, for obvious reasons.

threadlock said:
Is the law black and white on this? Is there ever a justification for not using a childseat because of the size and design of the car's existing seats?
The law is black and white - if your car has seatbelts fitted, and the child is both under 12 years old and less than 135cm tall, they must use an appropriate child car seat. There is only one exception for not using a child seat because of the size and design of the car that I know of, when you can't physically fit a third seat on the back row between two other seats. https://www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules/when-...

The only other justification for not using a child seat is if it is an "unexpected, necessary and short" journey, but IIRC you'd have to demonstrate that it really was necessary, like a need to get them to the doctors quickly, rather than because you'd forgotten the car seat and didn't fancy a half hour walk home from school.

You might consider visiting one of the more reputable child seat specialists - i.e. not one of the high street chains - who are pretty expert at knowing which seats will fit in which car. There are a lot more seats around than you'll find in the average baby stuff shop. Some will also give advice over the phone if they're difficult for you to get to. Or finally, you could swap your car for one with a size and design that can accommodate the passengers you intend to carry wink

GT6k

856 posts

161 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
+1 for the bubblebums, they worked well in my Cerbera

threadlock

Original Poster:

3,196 posts

253 months

Sunday 26th April 2015
quotequote all
MrTrilby said:
Or finally, you could swap your car for one with a size and design that can accommodate the passengers you intend to carry wink
Noooooooo! wink

Thanks for the replies. Guess I ought to explore a wider range of seats then.