The Tauranga City and Western Bay of Plenty districts are ranked the worst in the country by New Zealand Transport Agency for correct use of child restraints in vehicles.
In a Te Puke survey undertaken by police in early June, of the 69 vehicles stopped, only 24 children were correctly restrained out of the 94 car seats checked.

A child restraint check conducted for Project KiddiKlic in Papamoa earlier this year.

This amounts to 74 per cent of children checked in the survey to be considered unrestrained.
Chairperson of the region's joint road safety committee, Maureen Burgess, says the main faults found are out of date or expired seats, and ignorance about properly securing child car seats.
There were loose seats with loose or twisted straps, tether straps not attached and tether bolts not used.
There were also cases where the seats were unsuitable for the age of the child, the seats were in the wrong position in the vehicle, seatbelts were positioned incorrectly, children's arms were out of harness and some children were in the front seat.
Children two years and younger must travel in the back seat in a rear-facing car seat.
Western Bay of Plenty Mayor Ross Paterson is unhappy with this situation.
"Not using a restraint properly is almost as bad as not using one at all," says Ross.
"I urge drivers to do the right thing to keep our young people safe."
In conjunction with Plunket and NZTA, the police will continue to operate checkpoints throughout the region as part of Project KiddiKlic.