General Child safety seat information
- Car seats are legally required in many countries to safely transport children up to the age of 2 or more years in cars and other vehicles.
- All child restraints have an expiration date. On average, most seats expire 6 years from the date of manufacture, although this can vary by manufacturer. Always obey manufacturer's instructions, because if the seat does not protect your child when the need arises, the manufacturer will not be liable if you went against its recommendations.
- Like motorcycle helmets, child restraints are tested for use in just one crash event. This means that if the vehicle is compromised in any way (with or without the child in it); owners are strongly suggested to replace it, no matter how big or small. This is due to the uncertainty with how a compromised child restraint will perform in subsequent crashes.
- Child restraints are sometimes the subject of manufacturing recalls. Recalls vary in severity; sometimes the manufacturer will send you an additional part for the seat, other times they will provide a new seat entirely. Always contact the manufacturer.
- The purchase of a used seat is not recommended. Due to the previous concerns discussed about expiry dates, crash testing, and recalls, it is often impossible to determine the history of the child restraint if it is purchased second hand.
Exemptions to the law:
- If a child under one is travelling in a taxi and a suitable restraint is not available, provided the child does not travel in the front seat.
- If a child is travelling in a police or emergency vehicle.
- If a child has a medical condition or physical disability that makes it impractical to use a child restraint, and the driver has a certificate from a doctor indicating this is the case.
Car Seat Information for the B.V.I
- The car seat installation law came about in Tortola in 2005 and has been in effect for about 5 years now.
- When the car seat law was put into place the fire and rescue service found this to be a way to really help out the public being that there were many parents who needed to have the service performed and it was better being that this service is free to the public.
- There are members of the fire service who are certified in car seat installation and there are those that have had the awareness training.
Number of seats installed through 2006-2008 total 106.
In 2005 there weren’t many child passenger seat installations because the law was put in place late.
In 2006 there were 20 child passenger seat installations.
In 2007 there were 46 child passenger seat installations.
In 2008 there were 40 child passenger seat installations.