§ Mr. Wigginasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what conclusions he has reached about the sale and use of non-British Standards Institution approved child restraints.
§ Mr. PeytonAll seat belts, the purpose of which is to prevent or reduce injury, are required by law to be marked with the appropriate British Standard number. I do not think it would be sensible to apply the same standard to devices which can be, and are, used elsewhere than in a car and which, though useful to restrain a child in a car, are not designed to protect it in the event of an accident. Following discussions with my Department, the manufacturers and importers concerned have agreed to subscribe to a voluntary code of practice under which every child car seat or harness not BSI approved will be marked prominently and legibly with the words
This seat is not designed to prevent or lessen injury to the occupant in the event of a road accident.I hope this will make clear to purchasers the limited use of the article they are buying.