Does anyone know anything about Greek carseat laws?

[abckidsmom]

I have a friend who is moving to Greece, and she isn't sure what the laws are.

Does anyone know how to figure this stuff out?

[Morganthe]

LOL, just as I thought -- not much for requirements. :rolleyes:
Child Car seat laws (http://www.economycarhire.com/child-car-seat-destinations.php)

Child Seat Laws in Greece
Children under the age of 10 must not sit in the front seat. Seat belts are compulsory for all occupants of a vehicle.
Bare bones minimum. :o
The original source was from Child carseats.org.uk (http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/countries/greece.htm).

Greece and vehicular safety are not really associated with one another. A friend's husband was assigned at a remote site for a year. Some of the crazy stories he told us. :eek: It's part of Europe, but more like a Third World country than the USA. :shrug-shoulders:

Have a good car and bring own carseats from Stateside/Canada would be my best suggestion.
hth :)

[abckidsmom]

LOL, just as I thought -- not much for requirements. :rolleyes:
Child Car seat laws (http://www.economycarhire.com/child-car-seat-destinations.php)


Bare bones minimum. :o
The original source was from Child carseats.org.uk (http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/countries/greece.htm).

Greece and vehicular safety are not really associated with one another. A friend's husband was assigned at a remote site for a year. Some of the crazy stories he told us. :eek: It's part of Europe, but more like a Third World country than the USA. :shrug-shoulders:

Have a good car and bring own carseats from Stateside/Canada would be my best suggestion.
hth :)

Thanks for that. It's kind of a bummer, she's got her 4 yo, 35 lb ds in a backless booster and her 2 girls, one 18 mo, 20 lbs, one 3 yo and 27 lbs ffing in sceneras. I was at least hoping the laws would require something stricter. I don't hold back with her, she just really doesn't want to ERF or choose a more "difficult" option.

[Morganthe]

Now if she wants to drive in the rest of Europe, she'll have to be ready for stricter situations. IIRC, Germany does require HBB until 12 or something like that. Enforcement is haphazard, but it's on the books. Austria might also require them too. The Car-seat.org.uk would be the best bet to check on them.

Perhaps you can put the fear in her.. seriously, they're worse than Italian drivers because the roads are not marked and they drive horrible clunkers. It is dangerous in the countryside and I'd want to be safe as possible. People DIE there regularly due to traffic accidents. :(

[abckidsmom]

Now if she wants to drive in the rest of Europe, she'll have to be ready for stricter situations. IIRC, Germany does require HBB until 12 or something like that. Enforcement is haphazard, but it's on the books. Austria might also require them too. The Car-seat.org.uk would be the best bet to check on them.

Perhaps you can put the fear in her.. seriously, they're worse than Italian drivers because the roads are not marked and they drive horrible clunkers. It is dangerous in the countryside and I'd want to be safe as possible. People DIE there regularly due to traffic accidents. :(


She doesn't have carseat fear, I'm afraid. The good thing is that I don't think they'll be driving that much. She's Portugese, I don't know how much that cultural thing factors in.

I told her what little I knew about some European carseat rules, and she said she was just going to take her chances with what she has. They'll be 3 across in a Subaru Outback, with the LBB kid in the middle.

[lil96]

I thought Greece rules would be the same as anywhere else in EU since they are part of the EU. The seats need to be ECE certified.

[Adventuredad]

Greece is indeed a part of Europe and seats need to be certified for Europe (ECE R44). One is not allowed to use US seats although I would not hesitate to do so in case there was a safety benefit. I would for exemple not hesitate to use Swedish rear facing car seats in US despite it being technically illegal. But I see no safety benefit to using US seats in her case.

There are some good things with being in Greece, like being able to use the Swedish rear facing 55 lbs car seats legally.:whistle:

The relatively new and stricter law says any child under 135 cm. needs to sit in some kind of car seat. That may be a booster or a harnessed seat. Children under 3 years of age may not travel without an appropriate seat.
Kids under 12 and 135 cm. may not sit in front seat without a booster cushion There are some exceptions, like in taxis and temporary transportation.

Basically, kids under 135 cm. needs to be protected.

I would strongly recommend using very good car seats while in Greece. The traffic is among the worst in the world regarding traffic and roads, it also doesn't help that people drive very fast and like crazy. There are tons of deadly accidents and many scary mountain roads. Hospital care is also nothing to be proud of, slightly better than a third world country but I would NEVER have surgery in that country.

For us who live in other parts of Europe, it's a mystery how Greece ever got in to EU.:twocents:

Greece is a bit like Central/South America regarding kids and family. Kids are welcome everywhere, they LOVE kids. The more the better:D But despite being really into family and kids, children are very poorly protected in cars. Like in a third world country as someone above said. It certainly doesn't feel like Greece is part of European Union while being there. To me it's similar to Guatemala potentially being part of US:whistle::D

I'm stereotyping here but Portugese usually don't care about car seat safety as well. Hope your friend is different:thumbsup:

I'm not close to Greece but in case your friends needs some help or advice she can send me an email and I'll be happy to help out.

[abckidsmom]

Wow, thanks for all that info, AdventureDad. The Portugese thing maybe helps me understand her reluctance to pay attention.

I guess I'll see if I can scope out a good hospital for her too. She tends to like the bad ones, even here, as long as they're pretty and the staff is nice....

OK, so I used to be happy for her, getting to live abroad like she's always wanted to...now I'm a little concerned. Her husband is going to be a firefighter on a military installation on Crete, so hopefully they have access to the military "send you home" jets if something terrible happens.

[Adventuredad]

Crete is nice, it's basically a holiday place. You don't have the crazy Athens traffic but people still drive like idiots. I'm sure it will be a great experience for her and her family.

One thing she might notice very quickly is all the smoking. People smoke EVERYWHERE. Airport gates, cars, taxis, ferries, restaurants, etc. Everywhere:whistle:

[Morganthe]

Wow, thanks for all that info, AdventureDad. The Portugese thing maybe helps me understand her reluctance to pay attention.

I guess I'll see if I can scope out a good hospital for her too. She tends to like the bad ones, even here, as long as they're pretty and the staff is nice....

OK, so I used to be happy for her, getting to live abroad like she's always wanted to...now I'm a little concerned. Her husband is going to be a firefighter on a military installation on Crete, so hopefully they have access to the military "send you home" jets if something terrible happens.

I've known people assigned to Crete. Lovely in the summer tourist season. Crazy lonely in the off season. Of course, this could have changed in the last 15 years and these WERE single people who liked to party. :whistle:

I'd say also her Portugese heritage is not helping understand car seat safety too. Lovely country, but not hept on vehicular safety either. :shrug-shoulders:

Just did a lookup because I"m nosy.
There are plenty of airlines who fly to/from Crete (http://www.skyscanner.net/flights-to/cret/airlines-that-fly-to-crete.html) (Ryan air not one of them :( )
Medevacs & hops are regular, but not daily.
hth :)

For us who live in other parts of Europe, it's a mystery how Greece ever got in to EU.:twocents:


DH & I are of the opinion that the 2 primary reasons Greece is always included in the concept of Europe is:
1) It's the birthplace & source of city-state level governments, democracy, Western philosophy, science, architecture, & arts. Featured greatly in the idea of a Classic education for the upper class from Rome - Medieval - Rennaissance - Victorian -- modern times.
2) Greece (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece#History) was greatly influenced/educated by & then ruled by Europeans from mid 1800s until WWI time frame/soon afterwards.

So while modern Greece might not be so modern to Europe, it played a huge part in formation of what we consider 'modern' ;) And therefore, it's a sense of pride on both European countries AND Greece to be classified as European. But Greece is it's own flavor and NOT European. :rolleyes: Crazy, but true. :shrug-shoulders:

[Adventuredad]

Well said, I agree with all of that:thumbsup: