Child Safety Report 2025

In the report “Child Safety in Cars,” we have researched parents’ behaviours and knowledge regarding the safest ways for children to travel in cars, focusing on car seat regulations. The report is released in two different editions, one in Sweden and one in the UK. In Sweden, we are launching the report together with the insurance company Volvia, which has been the initiator and organiser of the study between 2009 and 2023. In the UK, the report is being released for the very first time.

Significant differences between Sweden and Great Britain

The reports show that there are many differences between the two countries regarding child safety in cars – both in terms of legal regulations and the knowledge and behavior of parents.

In Sweden, in addition to the legal requirement, there is also a national recommendation stating that children should travel rear-facing until at least the age of 4, ideally even longer. In Great Britain, the law only stipulates that children must be transported rear-facing until at least 15 months of age.

Why this difference matters: in a simulation study, the forces acting on the neck in rear-facing car seats were 83–90% lower than in the forward-facing seats studied (Belwadi et al., 2019). A European study by the CASPER consortium links the increase in fatal accidents involving children around one year old in Germany and France to children there being switched to forward-facing seats at an early age (Lesire et al., 2013).

All the studies we refer to can be found in our reference list.

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UK parents unaware they are putting their children at risk

Following the law, most parents in the UK turn their children forward-facing before or by the age of 2, while in Sweden, this typically happens when the child is 4 years old.

In the UK, 69% of children aged 0-1 year (+11 months) always travel rear-facing, while 27% travel forward-facing.
In comparison, in Sweden, 96% of children in the same age group always travel rear-facing.
For children aged 2-3 years (+11 months), the number of rear-facing travelers drops significantly in the UK where only 22% remain rear-facing,
Compared to Sweden, where 83% of children in this age group still travel in a rear-facing car seat.

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The law and national recommendations matter

What we can see in this year’s report, both for Sweden and the UK, is that parents largely follow what the car seat law and national recommendations say regarding how tall a child should travel rear-facing.

In the UK, the significant drop in rear-facing travel occurs from the age of 2, which aligns with the R129 law allowing forward-facing travel from 15 months.
In Sweden, the major drop happens when children turn 4, which is the minimum age according to the national rear-facing recommendation.
By the age of 5, only 9% of children travel rear-facing in Sweden, which is about the same as in the UK (8%).

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Swedish regulations and recommendations on child car seats

In Sweden, the law states that children must use a child restraint until they are at least 135cm tall.

The national recommendation is that they should travel rear-facing until at least 4 years of age – but preferably as long as possible.

UK regulations on child car seats

In the UK, children must use a child car seat until they are 12 years old or 135cm tall, whichever comes first.

Height-based child car seats (UN-R129)* must be rear-facing until the child is 15 months old. After this age, they can transition to a forward-facing car seat.

* Some older regulation weight-based R44 car seats can still legally permit forward-facing travel from just 9kg in the UK.

Child restraints for older children

Both in Sweden and the UK, the car seat law states that children must use a child restraint until they are at least 135cm tall or up to 12 years old, whichever comes first.

- In Sweden, 95% of children aged 4-7 always use a child restraint, whilst in the UK, the corresponding figure is 74%.
- Looking at children aged 8-10, the statistics are similar between Sweden and the UK.
- Only 57% of Swedish children and 51% of UK children always use a child restraint, while 25% never use one in either country.

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Parental awareness of car seat safety needs improvement

The low use of child restrains among older children in both Sweden and the UK highlights that parental knowledge needs improvement.

In the UK, 44% of parents say they do not know when a child can start using a forward-facing car seat, and 11% believe it is before 15 months.
In both Sweden and the UK, 85% and 89% of parents, respectively, state that they are aware of the laws and regulations regarding child car seats.
However, nearly one-fifth of both Swedish parents (17%) and UK parents (19%) find the rules unclear.
A noteworthy trend in Sweden, where we have access to historical survey data, is that perceived knowledge has decreased by 10% since 2020.
In the UK, 83% believe that, in addition to the law, there should be clearer recommendations on how children should travel safely in cars.

At Axkid, we are committed to improving parental knowledge and raising awareness about in-car safety for children.
Learn more about our commitment to child safety and how we view in-car safety in our safety philosophy.

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