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A decision made (01/08/2008) regarding: Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956 - Amendments to Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts by Children) (Jersey) Order 1998 - Drafting Instructions.

Decision Reference: MD-T-2008-0066
Decision Summary Title :	Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956 - Amendments To Motor Vehicles (Wearing Of Seat Belts By Children) (Jersey) Order 1998 – Drafting Instructions		Date of Decision Summary:	16 July 2008
Decision Summary Author:	Alan Muir Head of DVS & Inspector of Motor Traffic		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956 - Amendments To Motor Vehicles (Wearing Of Seat Belts By Children) (Jersey) Order 1998		Date of Written Report:	16 July 2008
Written Report Author:	Alan Muir Head of DVS & Inspector of Motor Traffic		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956 - Amendments To Motor Vehicles (Wearing Of Seat Belts By Children) (Jersey) Order 1998
Decision(s): The Minister approved the drafting instructions so that they can be forwarded to the Law Draftsman and an amendment to the Motor Vehicles (Wearing Of Seat Belts By Children) (Jersey) Order 1998 can be drafted for the Minister to make.
Reason(s) for Decision: To progress the request of the States.
Resource Implications: Other than some costs for publicising changes to the seat belt legislation, the only possible outlay in resources for the States may be where correct restraints are not fitted in school minibuses. Savings should be made, however, in fewer and less severe injuries arising in crashes, resulting in lower treatment and after-care costs.
Action required: Head of Driver and Vehicle Standards to forward the instructions to the Law Draftsman so that a draft Order can be prepared for the Minister to make.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956 - Amendments to Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts by Children) (Jersey) Order 1998 - Drafting Instructions.

TRANSPORT AND TECHNICAL SERVICES

ROAD TRAFFIC (JERSEY) LAW 1956

AMENDMENTS TO MOTOR VEHICLES (WEARING OF SEAT BELTS BY CHILDREN) (JERSEY) ORDER 1998

Purpose of the Report

To consider drafting instructions for amending the Motor Vehicles (Wearing Of Seat Belts By Children) (Jersey) Order 1998.

Background

The States, on 13 March 2008, approved Proposition 27/2008

(a) to agree that appropriate legislation should be introduced to require the wearing of rear seat belts in vehicles;

(b) to agree that appropriate legislation should be introduced to require the use of child seats or booster seats for children under certain sizes, to ensure effective restraint of vehicle occupants who might not otherwise be appropriately restrained by seat belts alone; and

(c) to request the Minister for Transport and Technical Services to make the necessary Orders under the Road Traffic (Jersey) Law 1956 to give effect to the proposals.

Instructions have already been passed to the Law Draftsman to amend the Motor Vehicles (Wearing Of Seat Belts)(Jersey) Order 1999 to require the wearing of seat belts in the rear seats of vehicles in accordance with (a).

Discussion

Draft instructions have been prepared to amend the Motor Vehicles (Wearing Of Seat Belts By Children) (Jersey) Order 1998 to require the use of child seats or booster seats for children under certain sizes, to ensure effective restraint of vehicle occupants who might not otherwise be appropriately restrained by seat belts alone. A copy of the draft instructions are attached as Appendix A.

The table below shows what the requirements will be for all occupants of relevant vehicles and who is responsible for ensuring the restraints are worn. The relevant vehicles are cars, light goods vehicles and minibuses.

	Front seat	Rear seat	Person responsible
Children under 3 years of age	Correct child restraint1 must be used2	Correct child restraint1 must be used.3	Driver
Children of 3 years old and above to a height of 135cm (approximately 4ft 5ins) or until their 12th birthday (whichever they reach first)	Correct child restraint1 must be used	Correct child restraint1 must be used where seat belts are fitted. Must use adult seat belt4 and travel in the rear of the vehicle if the correct child restraint1 is not available in three scenarios: - in a licensed taxi-cab; - for a short distance for reason of unexpected necessity; - two occupied child restraints prevent fitment of a third.	Driver
Child aged 12 or 13 or younger child 135cm (4ft 5ins approx) or more in height	Adult seat belt4 must be worn	Adult seat belt4 must be worn	Driver
Driver	Adult seat belt4 must be worn		Driver
Any passenger 14 years old and over	Adult seat belt4 must be worn	Adult seat belt4 must be worn	Passenger

1A correct child restraint includes a baby carrier, child seat, harness or booster seat suitable for the child’s weight which meets UN ECE 44.03 standard or better.

2The driver will be responsible for ensuring that any frontal airbag is deactivated if a child is travelling in the front seat in a rear facing child restraint.

3 If a correct child restraint is not available in a licensed taxi-cab a child accompanied by a responsible adult may travel unrestrained.

4An adult seat belt is designed and best for people 1.5m or more in height. It is a requirement that an adult seat belt is fitted and operational to all seats in all relevant vehicles manufactured since 1987/8. If seat belts are not fitted in vehicles manufactured prior to this, the requirement to wear a seat belt is waived. If seat belts are fitted to an older vehicle, they must be worn.

A child 3 years old and over may travel unrestrained in the rear seat of a vehicle if seat belts are not fitted in the vehicle due to the age of the vehicle.

As well as the exceptions outlined above, exceptions will be included in the legislation to cover situations where there is a medical exemption granted, a disabled child is wearing a suitable restraint for his/her disability and for when a child is being transported by the emergency services.

It is expected that the requirements to wear a correct child restraint will become compulsory a few months after the Order is made to allow parents and others sufficient time to provide the correct restraints for children. The requirements in respect of ensuring frontal airbags are deactivated when carrying a child in the front of a vehicle in a rear facing child restraint and ensuring children under 3 years old are not carried in relevant vehicles that due to the age of the vehicle seat belts are not fitted, should come into effect within the normal period after the Order is made.

The Minister asked the officers to investigate the possibility of using child restraints that do not comply with UN ECE 44.03 but which may meet similar safety standards in North America and be more convenient and transportable between vehicles than child restraints complying with UN ECE 44.03. A particular device, the Sunshine Kids Sure Fit, was highlighted as being portable and “thoroughly crash tested”.

Both the Head of DVS and the Road Safety Training Officer have made enquiries on this device. Emanating from the United States, it is a seat belt positioner. Despite claims on websites that the device had been crash tested, it was not listed on the manufacturer’s site as having been tested. Contact with the UK arm of the company confirmed that certain testing of the device had taken place. A copy of the one page report on the test is attached. (Appendix B). However, the Production Manager of the manufacturer when supplying the test report commented in an e-mail as follows:-

“Sure Fit is a belt position (sic), not a restraint.

Sure Fit is NOT a safety device and it is NOT a replacement for a booster. It is designed to more comfortably position a vehicle shoulder belt on a child.

This is very clear in the Sure Fit instructions.

Attached is the testing info. Especially in light of new UK requirements for booster use, I am not comfortable with the idea that he is contemplating using Sure Fit instead of a booster.”

It should also be noted that the testing did not follow the full requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards FMVSS 213 (which appear less rigorous than that applied by UN ECE 44.03) and included the use of a booster seat for the test for a 6 year old. No testing appears to have been done for children under 6 years old. Testing appears to have been done for a 10 year old weighing 90 pounds. There does not appear to be any testing criteria in FMVSS 213 for children older than 6 years old.

The conclusion of the report is

“Based upon the results of the dynamic tests conducted, the overall conclusion is that the Sure-Fit Shoulder Belt Positioner performs satisfactorily in its intended function without any significant negative effects on the performance of the restraint system itself.”

The “restraint system” is understood to be a typical adult seat belt (used with a booster seat in the case of a 6 year old). The whole premise of requiring children under 12 years old or 135cm in height to use a correct restraint is that a typical adult belt will not restrain them properly and can cause injury as a result of the position of particularly the lap section of the belt not being placed correctly across the pelvic area.

In the light of the above, it would appear that the Sure Fit would not be a satisfactory substitute for a correct child restraint and should not be included in the legislation as such.

Recommendation

The Minister is asked to approve the drafting instructions so that they can be forwarded to the Law Draftsman and an amendment to the Motor Vehicles (Wearing Of Seat Belts By Children) (Jersey) Order 1998 can be drafted for the Minister to make.

Reason(s) for Decision

To progress the request of the States.

Action Required

Head of Driver and Vehicle Standards to forward the instructions to the Law Draftsman so that a draft Order can be prepared for the Minister to make.

Written by:	Alan Muir, Head of Driver and Vehicle Standards

Approved by:	Caroline Anderson, Director of Transport

Attachments: Draft instructions for amending the Motor Vehicles (Wearing Of Seat Belts By Children) (Jersey) Order 1998.

Report of Results and Conclusions for Sure-Fit Shoulder Belt Positioner - Dynamic Crash Testing

ASM

16 July 2008