Key points to remember

• to be safe when travelling in vehicles, all babies and children need to use an approved child restraint, (this includes a booster seat) until they are 148cm tall (between nine and 12 years of age)
• for advice on the type of child restraint you may need and for help with correctly fitting it into your vehicle, find your nearest child restraint technician

How can I make sure I use my child restraint correctly?

Child restraint technicians have been especially trained and can give you advice on the type of child restraint you may need. They also have the practical knowledge to correctly fit your child restraint into a vehicle and show you how to do it too.

See the New Zealand Transport Agency website to:

• find a child restraint technician in your area

There are a number of different child restraints available in New Zealand and all vary in design.

The following information is available to help you use child restraints correctly so that you will greatly reduce the chance of your child being injured or killed in a car accident.

See the New Zealand Transport Agency website for:

• using child restraints safely
• child restraints save lives - also available in pdf format in English, Māori, Samoan, Tongan, Chinese and Korean
• child restraints fact sheet

Car seat rental schemes

You can hire child restraints from car seat rental schemes throughout New Zealand. The largest supplier is Plunket which hires a variety of infant and child restraints.

See the Plunket website for information about:

• hiring a car seat

You can also ask for information about rental schemes at car seat retailers and from a child restraint technician.

See the New Zealand Transport Agency website to:

• find a child restraint technician in your area

Many Maori and Pacific health organisations also run car seat rental programmes.

Car safety for school-aged children

Adult seat belts don't fit kids. There is a large and consistent body of evidence confirming that children have fewer serious injuries and deaths in car crashes if they use a booster seat rather than just an adult seat belt. To be safe, children need to be in booster seats until they are 148cm tall. For the majority of children this is somewhere between nine and 12 years of age.

See the following fact on this website:

• car safety for school-aged children

There are people working on changing the law in New Zealand to reflect this. The British changed their law last September to require children to be in the correct child restraints until they reach 12 years of age or 135cm in height. 

See the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) in the UK for:

• a very good summary and recommendations for best practice on their parents’ website

Where to go for more information

On this website
Car safety for school-aged children

Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), UK
See the RoSPA website for:

• recommendations for best practice regarding carrying children safely in cars

Car seat retailers
Check your local phone listings.

Land Transport New Zealand www.landtransport.govt.nz
Address: PO Box 2840, Wellington
Call the helpdesk free on 0800 699 000
Email: info@landtransport.govt.nz

Plunket www.plunket.org.nz
For information about Plunket car seat rental schemes, see:

• hiring a car seat

Safekids New Zealand www.safekids.org.nz
Safekids offers a number of services and programmes designed to contribute to the reduction of child injury.
Email: infocentre@safekids.org.nz (To access data and materials from the Safekids National Information & Resource Centre).