A major new survey has revealed that one in seven parents admit to driving in their car with their children being correctly strapped in.

The research, which was commissioned by Co-op Insurance has revealed the extent that parents are placing their kids lives at risk by ignoring the laws.

By law, children under the age of 12 years or smaller than 135cm require a child seat, with the fine for driving a child without a seatbelt or an appropriate child seat a maximum of £500.

Most worryingly, it is parents of children aged five who are most likely to have not belted their children in. Parents in London are most likely to offend, with 22 per cent admitting to have not belted their children in. Parents in Scotland are at the other end of the spectrum, with only six per cent admitting to the crime.

Though inexcusable, the main reasons given for not correctly securing their children range from running late, or even making short journeys. A total of 13 per cent of drivers even admitted that they had driven other people’s children without proper or legal seats in place.

Nick Ansley, head of motor insurance at Co-op, said: “Thousands of children, maybe more, are being driven round without being correctly fastened into their seats.

“Child car seats and seat belts are there to keep people as safe as possible. If the worst was to happen and a vehicle was involved in a collision with children not belted in, then the consequences are likely to be much more serious than if a child was strapped in.

“While there is no doubt that parents are simply trying to buy some time in their already manic schedules by sometimes not belting children in properly on short journeys, we are urging parents to ‘buy back’ some of their time at another point in the day – when the stakes aren’t too high.”

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