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A driver has fined after a baby was found strapped in a “very dangerous position” in a car seat.

The driver, a 27-year-old man, was pulled over for a random breath test on the Sturt Highway, west of Euston in southern NSW, on Sunday about 3.30pm.

Police say the man was driving on an international license.

“Seated in the rear seat was a 24-year-old female and a seven-month-old baby,” NSW Traffic and Highway Patrol Command wrote on Facebook.

“The baby was positioned forward facing in a car seat that was of very poor condition.”

Police said the anchor strap of the car seat “was tied across the top of the car seat across the child’s chest passing underneath his neck”.

The seat also “was not secured or anchored in any way”, police said.

“The child did not have any seatbelt adjusted or fastened and was in a very dangerous position for a child of that age,” police said.

The boy and his mum were escorted by police to a nearby town to get a proper seat for him as officers had “serious safety concerns”.

“All children must be safely fastened in the correct child car seat for their age and size,” police said.

“A child who is properly secured in an approved child car seat is less likely to be injured or killed in a car crash than one who is not. Children under six months must be restrained in an approved rearward-facing restraint.”

The man was fined $337 for “driving with child older than six months but less than four years not restrained as prescribed” and received six demerit points.

He was also fined for driving an unregistered vehicle which carries four demerit points and a $1422 fine.

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  • oh my goodness. At lest they tried I guess. Wonder if car seat laws are as strong where they come from as they are here.

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  • The police May very well have saved this baby’s life. It’s said the man had an international licence, maybe they have different laws over there? Imagine the number of people who could be making this mistake! Anyone travelling over seas with a child should be given a little leaflet outlining our road safety laws, to avoid this happening in the first place! This baby got lucky! How many others are not?

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  • Good! I’m glad they were pulled up about this unsafe practice!

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  • Glad the police noticed and took appropriate action. God forbid there’d been a car accident.

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  • OMG, what could have happened?? So pleased the police caught this.

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  • Glad the police are checking these kinds of things

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  • Omg, this is just awful. Glad they were caught and fined.

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  • Drivers from overseas countries don’t have the strict laws that we have here in Aust. We have these laws because of the vast expanses of land we drive over – overseas in many instances [Germany is the standout] most vehicles inch their way forward through traffic, so there is less need for restraint. I’m sure that apart from the fine, there would have been instruction given to this young family.

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  • This happens more than you think, especially with international tourists

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  • Lucky the police intervened and were able to help them out before anything happened.

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  • Wow, I hope this is the last time they make such unsafe choices. Frightening.

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  • This story is horrifying. So dangerous.

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  • So dangerous.

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  • There are so many scary elements to this story.

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  • Wow I can’t believe this still happens. Good on the police

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