Almost a dozen children have been found without any form of restraint in cars on Western Bay of Plenty roads during a recent sting – figures labelled as 'inexcusable” by a top roading official.

Information released from Plunket following the 15th annual Kiddi Klick Week, show 11 children were unrestrained in cars while more than half of the children checked were in restraints which had fitting faults.

Plunket Tauranga child restraint technician Donna Tuck uses a teddy bear to demonstrate how to correctly restrain a child in a car seat. Photo Bruce Barnard.

As part of the joint annual event, Plunket officials and other trained child restraint technicians assisted police at checkpoints, stopping 314 cars to check children were restrained correctly, and that restraints were also correctly fitted to the car.

Of the 418 children checked, 11 were unrestrained and 270 - more than half - had fitting faults, of which most have been described as 'potentially dangerous” in a crash situation.

They are statistics described as "rather frightening" by Plunket's BOP/Lakes car seat services manager Sandy Waugh – especially given the number of recent crashes on the region's roads.

In many cases there were two or three children in each vehicle not properly restrained, while one-year-old babies were found in booster seats designed for four-year-olds.

Other instances include babies rear facing in the front where air bags can be lethal, and children in booster seats with just a lap safety belt.

Some 66 car seats had seat belts through the wrong routing so were 'completely ineffective”, says Sandy.

Sandy also takes aim at recent Ministry of Transport statistics showing 93 per cent of children under five-years-old travel in car seats, saying Bay of Plenty statistics make a mockery of these with only 42 per cent restrained correctly.

She believes the national statistics are flawed due to data gathered from cars sitting at roundabouts, with someone looking in the car window as it drives past.

'They have absolutely no idea what kind of restraint they are in or how old the children are,” says Sandy. 'I don't believe their statistics for a moment.

'I think the biggest problem with the national figures coming out, the 93 per cent, is people are thinking 93 per cent of children are correctly restrained. That's the scary part.”

Sandy says it is vital parents ensure the best safety for their children, with the annual sting showing children are not as safe in cars as they could or should be.

Ultimately, she says, it comes down to education, and this falls on both the parents and retailers.

She adds: 'It comes down to people taking the time to read the instructions on the car seat and also retailers having more knowledge and actually going through and education process with people when they buy a car seat.”

Western Bay of Plenty road policing manager Senior Sergeant Ian Campion says there is simply no excuse to not have children restrained correctly in the car, paying particular attention to the 11 who were left with no form of restraint.

He adds there is plenty of education around the issue, especially since the legal age was raised to seven-years-old last November.

'There aren't too many adults that will get into a vehicle where the seatbelt is broken or isn't operating properly and head out on a trip,” says Ian. 'To put your child in that risk is unacceptable.”

Ian urges all parents and caregivers to allocate time for both having the car seat checked and knowing the correct car seat methods.

'There is an expectation these days that people don't take responsibility,” he adds, 'and as motorists they have a personal reasonability for the safety of all passengers of their vehicle, especially children.

'So I think it's a little bit about the ‘she'll be right' attitude. It only takes a moment for a serious crash to happen and for tragedy to follow. And it's only then that they might take the time to sit and reflect.”

Findings from the 15th annual Kiddi Klick Week:

314 cars stopped

481 children checked

200 with no faults

11 children unrestrained

66 incorrectly routed in safety belts

270 child restraints with fitting faults, of which most with potential dangerous faults in a crash.