Laws on sitting a child in a front passenger seat

[GoldNugget 0]

Does anyone know what the law is in Germany regarding a child sitting in the passenger seat of a car? Are there height, weight, age requirements like in some U.S. states?

[Pas 8,132]

Germany , I think you are OK but don't do it with the baby seat. Switzerland it's not allowed as I asked the police man at the border and he said we had to move the child into the back. If nobody else has the difinitive solution I have a link to a website at home that lists all the european countries and their seatbelt laws.

[Bipa 5,812]

 

Children under the age of 12 are not permitted to ride in the front seat of the car and using a children's safety seat is mandatory for each child in the car.

from Driving in Germany, US Embassy

 

You also MUST have enough seatbelts for every person in the car. No crowding in that one extra person.

[mehithabel 6]

Yes, must be 12. Also, a child under 150cm needs a booster seat.

[Pas 8,132]

But I think that means that a child under 12 can travel in the front with an appropriate booster seat. The Police has a good look in our car the other day because they thought my wife didn't have a seatbelt on. They never batted an eyelid about my 4 year old sat next two me.

[TexMunich 58]

I see kids in the front all the time in car seats? I don't know if it is legal.

[DanHessen 2,964]

I'm not sure on the law, but you should check your vehicle manual. I never let my under-12s in the front seat. As far as I know an air-bag deployment could be fatal for a four year old.

[eurovol 125]

 

Are there height, weight, age requirements like in some U.S. states?

Those laws are in place to protect the child and they are based on size, not age. My mother helped to implement them all around the country.

A quick google search will tell you just how big your child should be in order to use safety belts designed for peeps the size of most adults. The biggest problem is the shoulder harness system and there are very few acceptable devices to overcome that problem.

Don't mess with your child's safety, get informed and play it safe. Inconvenience is never an acceptable excuse to put a child at risk. You don't need to be doing 45mph+ to do serious damage to an unrestrained or improperly restrained kid in the event of an accident.

 

Search this site. I have posted quite a few links to child size guides for riding in a car.

[Bipa 5,812]

Here's how it was explained to me:

 

If you have a seat available in back, then the child under 12 must sit in the back with no exceptions. If your vehicle has no back seats, like a van with only front seats or a sporty two-seater, then the child can sit in front.

 

If you have more children than will fit on the back seats, then the youngest go in back, and the oldest is then allowed to sit in front (but only when the back seat is full.)

 

Hope this helps.

[eurovol 125]

Who was explaining that mess?

 

Here is how it really is. Don't have a proper car for kids and you have kids, then buy a proper car for the kids you wish to keep. End of.

[Bipa 5,812]

A police officer explained it to me when my very young looking 13 year old niece was in front with me. Had to show proof of age!

[eurovol 125]

Seat belts are designed for size and weight, not age. That is one of the reasons that the National Association of Women Highway Safety Leaders was created. Funny how to ride this ride at Legoland you have to be this tall, but to ride in the front seat of a car that is infinitely more dangerous you only have to be this age. Can anyone tell me what the obvious problem with that is?

[Bipa 5,812]

The problem is that there are small adults out there driving cars who would be severely impacted by any definitive law putting height and weight restrictions on who is allowed to sit in the front seat. When air bags first came out, there were quite a few needless deaths caused by the airbags, not by the accidents. I remember one in particular that happened in Toronto. Karol Steinhouse was killed by her airbag when it deployed during a very minor fender bender. Other than a scratch, her car wasn't damaged but the 47-year-old university instructor was dead.

 

After quite a few deaths due to over-aggressive airbags, newer technology was developed to make the airbags safer for all adults and not just larger, heavier men. But smaller adults, mostly women, are still at risk. So what to do?

 

The Germans have decided that twelve is the magic number. Should it be raised to 14, or 16? Or perhaps we should just say that all really short, lightweight people regardless of age shouldn't be allowed in the front seat of any standard vehicle?

 

I don't have all the answers, but I figure that following the law is a good start. My niece is soon going to be learning to drive a car and she still looks like she's about 12. Should she not be allowed to do her driver's licence based on her physical size even though she's 17 now?

[GoldNugget 0]

I just got sent this info from www.fahrtipps.de/verkehrsregeln/kinder.php

 

Die Regel:

 

Kinder, die unter 12 Jahre alt sind, müssen auf allen Plätzen im Fahrzeug in einer altersgerechten Rückhalteeinrichtung (»Kindersitz«) Platz nehmen. Dabei spielt es gesetzlich keine Rolle mehr, ob sie auf der Rückbank oder vorne rechts sitzen.

Der Fahrer ist dafür verantwortlich, dass jedes Kind richtig gesichert wird. Es drohen außerdem Bußgeld sowie Flensburg-Punkte bei Nichtbefolgen der Vorschrift.

Auch für Kinder von Bekannten, die man zum Beispiel gefälligkeitshalber mitnimmt, hat man diese Verantwortung.

Ausnahmen:

 

Kinder, die bereits 150 cm groß sind, dürfen ohne spezielles Kinder-Rückhaltesystem mitfahren, egal wie alt. Hier ist dann die Benutzung des normalen Sicherheitsgurtes vorgeschrieben. Ein Schlupfloch gibt es leider noch in bestimmten Situationen, wenn - beispielsweise in sehr alten Fahrzeugen - keine Möglichkeit zur Kindersicherung besteht, weil bereits alle vorhandenen Gurtsysteme zur Personensicherung benutzt werden.

 

It sounds like if the child is 150cm it is allowed as long as the child has a seatbelt on.

[HEM 10,702]

 

I see kids in the front all the time in car seats? I don't know if it is legal.

I see people using mobile telephones without Freisprechanlage every day but it doesnt make it legal in GY...

[MikeMelga 6,915]

Ressurecting this thread.

Is there a definitive conclusion if a child under 12 can sit in the front seat, if the child is under 150cm, but with a booster?

[Krieg 14,491]

5 minutes ago, MikeMelga said:

Ressurecting this thread.

Is there a definitive conclusion if a child under 12 can sit in the front seat, if the child is under 150cm, but with a booster?

 

https://www.adac.de/verkehr/verkehrssicherheit/kindersicherheit/kindersitzberater/kindersitz-beifahrersitz/#:~:text=Rein%20rechtlich%20k%C3%B6nnen%20Kinder%20und,wie%20es%20die%20Kindersitzpflicht%20vorschreibt.

 

The only big restriction is for babies facing back, in such case you have to deactivate the front airbag, if you can't deactivate it you can't put the baby there.

 

Kids are allowed in their kid's seat or booster, but you have to move the car seat all the way to the back (to keep them as far as possible from the front airbag).

[keith2011 2,154]

Would a child under 12 be allowed in the front passager seat of an old-timer sports car which was never fitted with airbag or seat belts?

[HH_Sailor 3,142]

1 hour ago, keith2011 said:

Would a child under 12 be allowed in the front passager seat of an old-timer sports car which was never fitted with airbag or seat belts?

 

This insurance company (ERGO) suggests that a 12yr old is allowed.

But under 3's are not

 

This oldtimer portal says the under 12's can only be on the back seat,

and under 3's not in the car. (complete with NSFW, very dated 1970's video clip)

 

Quote

Sonderregelungen betreffen die Mitnahme von Kindern im Oldtimer, doch damit wird's kompliziert. Es gilt, dass Kinder und Jugendliche ab 12 Jahren und einer Körpergröße über 1.50m im Oldtimer ohne weiteres mitgenommen werden dürfen - auch wenn das Fahrzeug auslieferungsbedingt nicht mit Gurten ausgerüstet ist.

Unter diesem Alter/Größe müssen Jugendliche dann auf der Rückbank platznehmen. Anders sieht es bei jüngerem Nachwuchs aus: Kinder unter drei Jahren dürfen nicht befördert werden, wenn keine Gurte vorhanden sind.

 

Special regulations apply to the carriage of children in classic cars, but this is where things get complicated.

The rule is that children and young people over 12 years of age and over 1.50 m tall may be taken along in a classic car without further ado - even if the vehicle is not equipped with seat belts at the time of delivery.

 

Under this age/height young people must then take a seat in the back. 

 

The situation is different for younger children: 

Children under the age of three may not be transported if there are no seat belts.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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But is it worth it ?