Travelling with Children in Alternative Vehicles

The following vehicles are considered motor homes:

• recreational vehicle
• motorized vehicle
• modified van
• modified pickup truck

The Highway Safety Code requirements are the same regardless of whether children are riding in a car or in a motor home. Children who are less than 145 cm tall or who are younger than age 9 must be seated in a child safety seat that is appropriate for their weight and height. The law also specifies that such seats must be installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

It is therefore important to check:

1. the motor home owner’s manual to know whether child safety seats can be installed in the vehicle
2. the car seat owner’s manual to know whether it can be used in a motor home

Subject to the information provided in the motor home and car seat owner’s manuals, here is some general guidance:

• The car seat must be installed on a forward-facing seat or bucket seat. Car seat manufacturers usually do not authorize installing child safety seats on lateral seats or bucket seats that are rear facing.
• If the passenger seat at the front of the motor home is equipped with one or more front airbags, do not install a car seat, except when the airbags have been deactivated. Remember that the safest place in a vehicle for children aged 12 or younger is the back seat. Child safety seats that are forward facing require using the tether strap at the top of the seat. Some motor homes do not have an available anchor for attaching the strap, making it impossible to legally install a forward-facing car seat unless the motor home manufacturer authorizes the installation of the required anchor. In this case, you must check directly with the manufacturer (not the dealership) to see whether the anchor could be installed in compliance with safety standards.
• Booster seats require the use of a 3-point seat belt, which has a lap belt and a shoulder belt. Many older models of motor homes are only equipped with 2-point seat belts. These vehicles cannot be used to carry children who must be seated in a booster seat.

Seats that are not equipped with seat belts

If the manufacturer has not equipped certain seats with seat belts, it is because they are not meant to be used during transportation. The Highway Safety Code prohibits carrying more passengers in a vehicle than there are seats equipped with seat belts. Seats that are not equipped with seat belts are not places where children can be seated or where a child safety seat can be installed.

The SAAQ authorizes the installation of additional seat belts only if the manufacturer originally designed the motor home to allow for this option and all required parts are installed by a dealer in compliance with the manufacturer’s specifications. The structure of the seats and the seat belt anchorages must have been designed and tested by the manufacturer to withstand the force generated by an occupant in the event of a crash. This is why it is sometimes impossible to add seat belts.

If you want to drive a vintage car and carry children less than 145 cm tall or younger than age 9, the law specifies that they must be seated in a child safety seat that is appropriate for their weight and height if the car is equipped with seat belts. However, depending on the characteristics of each type of car seat, it might be impossible to use a vintage car to transport a child.

Vintage cars are not equipped with anchors to attach universal anchorage system (UAS) connectors or car seat tether straps. In addition, vintage cars are usually not equipped with seat belts or only have 2-point seat belts (lap belt only).

In order to install a child safety seat in accordance with the laws in effect, you must always follow the instructions in the car seat owner’s manual. Here is some additional general guidance:

• Rear-facing seats can usually be secured with a 2-point seat belt. These types of seats should not pose any problem for use in a vintage car if it is equipped with seat belts.
• Front-facing seats require using the tether strap at the top of the seat—this is a regulatory requirement. Vintage cars do not have any available anchors to attach the tether strap. Front-facing seats therefore cannot be installed in vintage cars, unless the vehicle’s manufacturer has authorized the installation of the required anchorage by one of its authorized dealerships.
• Booster seats require the use of a 3-point seat belt, which has a lap belt and a shoulder belt. Because vintage cars usually only have 2-point seat belts or no seat belts at all, booster seats cannot be installed in these vehicles.

If the vintage car was built in or before 1973 and is not equipped with seat belts, you are exempted from the obligation to use a child safety seat (because it cannot be anchored to the vehicle).

When children who are less than 145 cm tall or under 9 years of age occupy a seat in a taxi, an automobile considered to be a taxi, or a police vehicle, the law provides an exception to the obligation to secure them in a car seat that is appropriate for their weight and height.

For safety reasons, it is always best and highly recommended to secure a child in a safety seat in any vehicle. However, in cases where this equipment is absent, such as in an emergency, a child is allowed to ride in a taxi, a vehicle comparable to a taxi, or a police vehicle without being seated in a child safety seat.

In this case, children are required to wear a seat belt unless they are unable to maintain an upright position.

If the child is too small to sit upright

Fasten your seat belt first, then hold the child in your arms. In other words, do not buckle up together: in the event of an accident, you could crush the child.