The road rules require a child aged 7 years to under 16 years of age to travel in either an approved booster seat or an adult seatbelt. The type of restraint will depend on the child’s size. Drivers and passengers 16 years and over are required to travel in an adult seatbelt.
A child should continue using a booster seat until they have outgrown it. An adult lap-sash seatbelt is designed for people with a minimum height of about 145 cm. The average child will reach this height between 10 to 12 years of age.
Children who are not yet tall enough to use an adult seatbelt tend to slump into the vehicle seat so that their legs bend at the seat edge. This means the lap part of the seatbelt is positioned too high on their stomach and they are at risk of more serious injury in a crash.
Lap-sash seatbelts offer greater protection to passengers than lap-only seatbelts, but they must fit correctly. This means the lap part of the seatbelt is positioned low over the hip and the sash part of the seatbelt sits in the middle of the shoulder and does not touch the neck.
If your vehicle has a lap-only seatbelt replace this, if possible, with a lap-sash seatbelt.
A seatbelt fits properly if:
- the sash sits flat on the shoulder without touching the face or neck
- the sash crosses low over the hips, not the abdomen
- it is not twisted
- all slack is removed.
Choose and use the right restraint
Rearward facing child restraints
Forward facing child restraints
Booster seats
Child safety harnesses
Frequently asked questions