Carrying a child in a car seat in Lithuania
Have you ever wondered how to carry children in a car properly — so they are safe and the Road Traffic Rules are respected? When must belts be fastened, and who is responsible?
A short history of the seat belt
Seat belts were first used in 1902 at a car race in New York: engineer Walter Baker, driving an electric car named "Torpedo", strapped himself and his co-driver to the seats as a precaution — and it saved their lives. The first automobile seat belt was patented in 1907 by the Frenchman Gustave Liebau, though until the early 1950s belts were used mostly in aviation. The three-point, Y-shaped belt was proposed by former American pilots Roger Griswold and Hugh DeHaven. In the USA the novelty was met with resistance and even ridicule — until 1967, when Volvo published its report on 28,000 crashes in Sweden showing belts cut injury risk by 50–60%. A year later belts became mandatory equipment in the USA, four years after that fastening them became law, and the requirement then spread across the world.
Child seat groups
Children shorter than 135 cm must be carried in a passenger car or truck secured by child restraint systems matched to their height and weight, according to the manufacturer's size range and maximum weight, or these groups:
- Group 0 — children under 10 kg;
- Group 0+ — children under 13 kg;
- Group I — 9 to 18 kg;
- Group II — 15 to 25 kg;
- Group III — 22 to 36 kg.
Only certified restraint systems approved under UNECE Regulation No 44/03 or No 129 (or later versions) may be used.
Rear-facing seats and the front airbag
It is prohibited to carry a child in a rear-facing child seat on the front seat if that seat is protected by an active airbag. The rule does not apply if the front airbag is deactivated. It is recommended to keep the child rear-facing for as long as possible, as indicated by the seat manufacturer.
Universal seats and boosters
Universal seats (groups 1/2/3) cover children of 9–36 kg: they have integrated harnesses, and once the child grows, the car's own belts are used. Booster cushions are another option for children over 23 kg — though specialists advise using full car seats for as long as possible, since they provide a backrest and side protection that a plain booster lacks.