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- Without headscarves and pads: The Ministry of Transport clarified the requirements for child seats
Without headscarves and pads: The Ministry of Transport clarified the requirements for child seats
The Ministry of Transport has developed amendments to the traffic regulations concerning child safety seats. Now, various fasteners, adapters, and seat belt linings will be officially recognized as not complying with the requirements of the law. This will improve the safety of transporting children by road, experts say. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Adapters are illegal
The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation has prepared amendments to the traffic regulations clarifying the requirements for child safety seats. The document has been published on the federal portal of draft regulatory legal acts. The agency proposes to introduce a new term in the traffic regulations — "child restraint system" and define which devices do not belong to such systems.
"A child restraint system (device) is a design designed to transport a child in a vehicle in order to reduce the risk of harm to their life and health. Straps, flexible elements with buckles, adapters, fasteners, seat belt pads and other similar items are not child restraint systems (devices)," the text of the amendments to the traffic regulations says.
Causes concern
The Ministry of Transport notes that the main problem with child restraints is the proliferation of non-certified and potentially dangerous devices such as seat belt adapters and frameless child seats.
"These devices often turn out to be not only useless in an accident, but can also worsen the consequences for the child," the explanatory note to the document says.
The department notes that the requirements for child restraint systems (devices) are established by ONN rules No. 44 and No. 129, which are applied by our country in accordance with the Geneva Convention of 1958. At the same time, the current version of the traffic Regulations does not contain provisions on the compliance of child restraints (systems) with these requirements, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation emphasizes.
"The situation with adapter certification is of particular concern: some manufacturers are finding ways to obtain documents for them that allow them to be considered full-fledged car seats. This creates loopholes for drivers who avoid fines by using similar devices instead of certified restraint systems," follows from the explanatory note to the amendments to the traffic regulations.
The proposed changes are aimed at clearly defining the devices allowed for use and eliminating the possibility of using dangerous alternatives, even if there are questionable certificates, the Ministry of Transport emphasizes.
Dangerous analogues
A legislative ban on the use of straps, pads, "headscarves" and other items that unscrupulous sellers allegedly pass off as child restraints is necessary, Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, is convinced.
— We have repeatedly conducted tests and tests of such devices: they have nothing to do with security. And in some cases, such "headscarves", "triangles" and adapters cause additional injuries to the child in a collision. Their use is a self—deception of parents who believe that their child is protected in the car by such devices," Maxim Kadakov told Izvestia.
The proposed changes are a big step forward, says Denis Zagarin, head of the testing center at FSUE NAMI. The appearance of clear language in the traffic regulations regarding child restraint systems outlaws the use of pads, straps and other surrogates that do not ensure the safety of the child inside the vehicle, he stressed. However, this measure alone will not completely resolve the issue of their use, the expert noted.
— In Russia, the issue of certification of such devices has been resolved, and no organization will issue an opinion on these surrogates that they are a child restraint system. However, similar devices with appropriate certificates issued by laboratories in other countries of the Customs Union enter the market," Denis Zagarin told Izvestia.
In his opinion, this issue can only be resolved at the interstate level so that such devices are not recognized as child restraint systems in other countries.
The ban on their use has been overdue for a long time, says Igor Morzharetto, a member of the presidium of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. However, it would be more logical not to list items and devices that are prohibited in the traffic regulations, but to indicate what is allowed, he believes.
— Human thought does not stand still: the forbidden "headscarf" will be called a "bandage", the "adapter" will become some kind of "modifier", some other name will be invented for the "belt lining". It turns out that every time you have to correct the traffic rules again," the expert noted.
Two birds with one stone
The amendments proposed by the Ministry of Transport address two issues related to child restraints at once, Valery Soldunov, a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation and chairman of the All-Russian Society of Motorists, told Izvestia. On the one hand, they show parents which device is really a remote control, and which is just masquerading as it. On the other hand, these measures will make it possible to put an end to the communication of traffic police with violators, when the latter ask police questions from the category "show where it says that this adapter is prohibited," he notes.
— Often parents simply do not understand what is a child restraint and what is not. Changes to the traffic regulations will make it easier for them to understand this issue. They will also become an additional argument for traffic police when talking to violators who allegedly use "restraining devices" when transporting children, Valery Soldunov said in a conversation with Izvestia.
As a result, the amendments proposed by the Ministry of Transport to the traffic regulations solve the main issue: they increase the safety of children when they are transported in a car, the chairman of the All-Russian Society of Motorists added.
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