Parents and other drivers who do not ensure that children are in a suitable child restraint when travelling in motor vehicles face court prosecution and a fine of €2,000 if convicted, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen warned yesterday.
In the future, they are also expected to face penalty points for failing to use specially designed car seats where applicable.
Between 1996 and 2003, 59 children under 16 were killed in road collisions where safety restraints were not in use.
Research has shown that ensuring a child is properly restrained in a car seat can reduce injuries by 90-95 per cent for rear-facing seats and 60 per cent for forward-facing seats.
Speaking at the launch of a public awareness campaign by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) on child safety in cars yesterday, Mr Cullen said an EU directive on the compulsory wearing of safety belts and child restraints in motor vehicles had been transposed into Irish law in May. The new directive gives legal backing to "best practice" for restraining children in passenger cars.
This means safety belts must be worn where they have been fitted, while children under three are not allowed to travel in a car or goods vehicle, apart from a taxi, unless they are in the correct child seat.
Children aged 3 or over who are under 150cm in height and weighing less than 36kg - generally children up to 12 years of age - also must use the correct child seat, booster seat or booster cushion when travelling in cars or goods vehicles.
Rear-facing child restraints must also never be used in the front passenger seat of cars with an active air bag, while children over three years of age must travel in a rear seat in vehicles not fitted with safety belts.
According to the RSA, it is the weight of the child which is most important when deciding what type of child restraint to use.
It advises that the child restraint options for parents include rear-facing baby seats for babies up to 13kg, forward-facing child seats for children from 9-18kg, booster seats for children from 15-25kg, and booster cushions for children between 22 and 36kg (or approximately six to 11/12 years).
The RSA's "No child car seat, no excuse" campaign aims to highlight the new EU regulations to the general public.
RSA chief executive Noel Brett said it was asking parents and guardians to only purchase child safety seats from retailers who are prepared to show them how to fit the right seat into their car and to ensure that it fits and is appropriate for their child.
Dr Alf Nicholson, consultant paediatrician at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, added that the child road fatality rate in Ireland was double that of Sweden.