Things parents and carers need to know

• An unrestrained child sitting in the rear seat can hit the driver with force equivalent to the weight of a baby elephant

• A report by the RACV revealed that a child under 4 years old, if unrestrained, would be 10 times more likely to be killed in a car accident than in a correctly fitted child restraint

• In a 60 km/h collision, a 15kg child (average weight of a 3 year old) produces a force of 550kg (the weight of 22 bags of cement) in only 3/100's of a second

• Child restraints have been around for a long time now. There is no research to indicate how long restraints can be used safely. However, restraints older than 10 years cannot be guaranteed to perform as they were originally designed. If you are discarding a restraint that you believe is unsafe, destroy it so that others will not be tempted to use it.

• Many motorists believe that in a simple crash at 60 km/h without a seat belt on, they would be able to brace and protect themselves by holding out their arms at the point of impact, or by protecting their child by thrusting their arm out in front of them. In fact, it would be the same as falling from a four story window.

• Surveys that have been carried out by Kidsafe (6000 restraints checked over 3 years) have found that some 69% of all child restraints inspected were found to be incorrectly fitted and some 25% would have put the child at risk of death or serious injury in an accident.

• Research has shown that approved and properly fitted child restraints can reduce the risk of death or serious injury in road crashes by up to 70%. It is therefore vitally important to have all child restraints fitted, if not inspected, by a trained professional.