Hi,

I was wondering if anyone knows what the punishment would be for getting cuaght driving with a passenger with a child on their knee?

any help much appreciated

Thanks

Please don't drive with a child sat on a passengers knee - it's not safe and is illegal, but I don't know the punishment.

They revoke your parenting permit

Does this mean you got caught and you're awaiting a fine?

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_ne...ml?cid=8596538

Children Car Seat Laws in Switzerland

Car Seat Question

Car Seat Question

Child Seat Laws

The punishment to the parent/driver/adult with child on knee, would be life long should you have had a fatal crash and little one went flying through the windscreen

If we're talking front seat passenger with a child on the passenger's lap then in my opinion the fine will never be enough.

Most modern cars are equipped with passenger side air bags, even a moderate collision with another vehicle will set the air bag off causing serious injuries (possibly even death) to that child..!!

Beats me why people do this.

Reminds me of a case when living in Australia, where one bright spark of a mother thought it was ok for the childs safety seat to be fastened to the door handle of the car, because the door handle was faulty and the door kept coming open. Well, yeah, might have been ok if the child hadn't actually been in the seat at the time.

Is that before or after the car accident?

Murphy's law is a BeeeeTCH

A badly injured / dead child and a lifetime of guilt for cutting corners on child safety?

You had to ask?

That is undeniably true! Also, in the event of a crash, even if the unsecured small child did not go through the windscreen, s/he can be crushed by the adult who is holding him/her or can become a "projectile" and be tossed around with such force that it badly injures both the child and the other occupants. The other thing to note is that in this situation, a very minor fender bender that would normally not damage anything but the car could seriously hurt or kill an unsecured small child.

OP, I realize that you are asking for information and not a beat-down, but this is such a dangerous thing that I hope the fine for is enough to make you (or whoever drove the car with the unsecured child) never consider doing it again.

Sorry, a child's life is just too valuable to put at risk in this manner. Be late, go buy a seat, take the train, don't go, whatever.

In Switzerland a child is not allowed to sit in a car with just a seat-bealt anyway. The child has to be in a proper seat, suitable for weight and age. Older children have to sit on a proper child booster seat so the height is correct for the seat belt. So I'm afraid you have doubly broken the law, and the fine should be substantial, but no idea of exact figure. I realise that you may come from a country where a child sitting on a lap is still the norm- as it was here and the UK in the 40s and 50s- but sorry, it is no excuse.

If you are not equipped to carry children in your car safely - please do NOT take them on board.

http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/74.html#741.521

That's for professional drivers only.

If nothing happens: CHF 60 fine
If the driver is distracted by the child: 3 month driving ban, up to 3 years in jail and/or a fine.
Cantonal Police Zurich

And Switzerland until the '90s or so!

Interestingly, no seatbelts are required when the child is in a sidecar, though I did have child seats, also not required, until they were for or five.

Meanwhile, what about cars that have no seatbelts? Yes, they do exist, my wife's lawyer's 356C has no seatbelts!

Tom

Didn't Brittney Spears do that a couple of years ago??

Her punishment bad publicity.

Crazy to risk a childs life. I wouldn't even risk a dog on the knee in a car, as if you crash.....unbearable to even think about.

Not much of a deterrent then - I see unrestrained children in the backs of cars almost every time I drive.
(It's quite obvious as they're climbing over the seats or you can quite clearly see four or more people on the back seats.

May not be PC to say it but they have almost all been people with West Asian origins and with local (Swiss plates).

So, it may be just that they are unaware of the laws here.

Also see that a lot; kids standing between the driver and passenger seats. Nightmare scenario.

Legal or not. It's negligent.

No, it's not.

Tom