New product safety law must be prioritised as dangerous car seats continue to be sold online, says lawyer

Leading product liability lawyer Jill Paterson is urging the government to act quickly to implement secondary legislation under the new Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025 to prevent unsafe and illegal products, such as the car seats, being sold online.

An investigation by Which? first brought attention to the unsafe car seats in 2014, when it called for the listings to be removed. Since then, Which? reports that it has continued to find listings for the car seats on third-party seller websites such as Ebay, Shein and Little Dreams.  

The fabric seats are being sold for as little as £12, and are advertised as being suitable for children as young as nine months. While many listing descriptions stipulate that the products should not be used in moving cars, they are described as ‘safety seats’, ‘car seat’ and ‘safe booster for travelling’, with accompanying images of young children using them in a car.  

Which? also reports that, among other safety deficits, the car seats are being sold without side impact protection, a central fastening for easy release in an emergency, or an orange label which indicates it meets UK regulations.  

With the new Product Regulation and Metrology (PRAM) Act in force,  it is hoped that this is an opportunity to stop unsafe products from appearing online.  

Leading product liability lawyer Jill Paterson said:

“No child should be put at risk of serious injury because of unsafe products, which are freely available for sale online in the UK. Parents should have peace of mind that the products they buy to keep their children safe are fit for purpose.

“It is particularly concerning that a product marketed as helping to improve the safety of children could be so incredibly unsafe.  

“It is of deep concern that unsafe products that do not follow UK safety regulations are still being sold through online retailers more than ten years after concerns were originally raised."