Does anyone know of international car seat laws specific to Italy?

Question

We are traveling there soon. and we have a 3 yr old , approx 30 lbs, who uses a car seat . We currently live in Michigan where the laws regarding car seats for small children are very strict.

I am having a hard time finding any specific info about the laws in Italy cor the car seats.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I do not know the laws in Italy, and had little luck finding any info online. I would assume they are much less stringent. However, the law is rather immaterial b/c the laws of physics are the same everywhere. Your child is just as likely to get injured in a vehicle in Italy as in your home state. One thing worth noting is that you will likely need to install your seat with the seatbelt b/c other countries' version of LATCH is different.

Here's some issues you'll run across installing a car seat in European countries:

In Europe, seatbelts do NOT lock, so every car seat must have a built-in lockoff on it or you will need to use a locking clip with every installation. If your current seat does not, and there's only a handful here that do, I would get one. Britax Marathon and Compass/First Years TruFit, and Graco SafeSeat2 have lockoffs. European cars are unlikely to have tether anchors.