Children who measure less than 1.35 meters will not be able to travel in the front seat of the car
As of Thursday, October 1, in Spain children who measure less than 1.35 meters will not be able to travel in the front seat of the car even if they carry their corresponding Infant Retention System. This is prohibited by a new government decree that enters into force on that specific day.
The Royal Decree was approved last July to modify article 117 of the General Circulation Regulations, in which regulates everything related to the mandatory use of safety belts and restraint devices for children in the vehicles.
Modification of the General Regulation of Circulation
In this modification that enters into effect that Thursday three exceptions are established:
1.- The minors will be able to travel in front when the rear seats are already occupied by other minors of that height
2.- They will be able to travel in front when it is not possible to install all the seats required
3- In the case of a two-seater vehicle.
In this way, only in these cases will minors be able to occupy the front seat of the vehicle, "but always using the retention system approved for its size and weight", as they have emphasized from the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT).
Likewise, the modification of said article establishes that the child restraint systems they will be installed in the vehicle in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer, as they must indicate in which way and in what type of vehicles they can be used safely.
More safety in the rear seats
Due to this important change in the regulations in force, the DGT reminds that this amendment to the standard is also due to the need to translate the scientific evidence from numerous studies into the legal system in which they demonstrate the benefit of children traveling in the rear seats of the vehicles in order to reinforce their protection.
In this sense, they have highlighted a study conducted in the United States with 5,751 children under 15 years of occupancy of vehicles that had suffered a serious traffic accident. The report shows that the fact of sitting in the back seat had a protective effect, regarding serious injury or death.
Another study, the 'Rear seat safer: seating position, restraint use and injuries in children in traffic crashes in Victoria, Australia', also concludes that the risk of death in children under four years of age who were traveling in a damaged car was double if they did in the front seat and four times more if they were under one year old.
Safety at the wheel
With everything, from Traffic have taken to remember some safety rules behind the wheel. Among them, they have emphasized "never carry the child in his arms or use the same seat belt as the adult to protect him" and they recalled that the use of SRI systems reduces deaths by 75 percent and injuries by 90 percent.
For all of this, the DGT has asked for a good check that the car seats are properly installed, if they are not, security is null. Likewise, they recalled that the child's head should never protrude over the backrest of the seat: if this happens, it indicates that the chair is of a smaller size and that it should be replaced by another of the upper group.
To conclude, have explained that in cases where children have to travel in the front seat (because it is one of the three exceptions included in the standard) must take into account the type of airbag: if it is frontal, Children will only be able to go in SRI backwards when the airbag has been deactivated.
It may interest you:
- Placing the children behind their backs in the car can save their lives
- How to make good use of child restraint systems
- Types of car seats for children
