Child road safety · the Romanian interior ministry answer, read on 7 November 2026
Can a child sit in the front seat of a car in Romania?
In a family car, up to 135 cm the child travels in a child restraint fitted on the rear seats. For the front seat, the maker must permit that position. If the car has a front passenger airbag, the driver must deactivate it; automatic child-seat detection does not replace deactivation. If the car has no such airbag, the law provides that alternative. Choose the situation and check the restraint instructions and airbag status separately.
What the rules say for the chosen case
Example: 128 cm, child seat on the rear bench
At 128 cm, a child restraint on the rear seats is exactly the required arrangement.
Up to and including 135 cm, the child travels fixed in a child restraint, and the fitting rule names the rear seats. Fitting in the front remains the exception with two cumulative conditions.
What changes at 135 centimetres?#
The official answer of the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the institution above the traffic police, divides children by height rather than age. “Children with a height of up to 135 cm may be carried in vehicles only if fixed or held by means of a child seat restraint device fitted in the vehicle.” Over 135 cm, the rule admits two options: adult seat belts adjusted so that they do not pass over the neck or face area, or the same child restraint device.
In a family car, “up to 135 cm” includes the value itself: at exactly 135 cm the restraint is still required. Over the line, the belt option opens if it is adjusted away from the neck and face. This checker keeps that inclusiveness exact, because seat manuals work with their own height limits too, sometimes stricter than the law.
The ministry’s short answer leaves out limits on the taxi exception. Under Article 97(1¹), a child up to 135 cm may travel without a restraint in a taxi only in a seat other than the front passenger seat; a child up to three must be supervised by someone other than the driver. Paragraph (2¹) repeats these conditions for the specific case of vehicles without safety systems. The exception concerns taxis or public transport, not the family’s own car.
The rules above are for vehicles fitted with safety systems (belts). In a vehicle without such systems, children up to 3 years cannot be carried except under the statutory exceptions (taxi, public transport, medical certificate), and children over 3 and up to 150 cm may travel only in a seat other than the front seats (Article 97(2)–(2³)).
When may a child seat reach the front seat?#
The fitting rule names the rear seats. A child restraint may be fitted on the front passenger seat only if the maker’s instructions permit that position and the condition for the corresponding frontal airbag is met: if the car has one, the driver must deactivate it; if the car is not equipped with one, the law provides for that separately (Article 97(1⁶)–(1⁷)).
If an airbag is fitted, automatic child-seat detection does not replace the driver’s duty to deactivate it. “I do not know” about the maker’s permission or whether the airbag is fitted or deactivated does not confirm the exception. The restraint manual says whether it may be fitted in that seat; the car manual says whether a front airbag is fitted and how the driver deactivates it.
A child over 135 cm held by an adult belt is not under the device-fitting rule; for them the text speaks of wearing and adjusting the belt. For a child in a restraint, including over 135 cm, fitting in the front stays under the same two conditions.
The medical exemption and very small children#
The official answer exempts the child for whom a medical exemption certificate was issued on a serious medical ground, naming the condition that counter-indicates the safety systems. In that case the carriage takes place on the rear seats, and the driver carries the certificate, with its validity period.
For a child up to the age of three under this exemption, the carriage happens under the supervision of a person other than the driver. The detail deserves separate attention because it changes the travel plan: another person besides the driver is needed in the car.
Outside this documented exemption, tiredness, a short trip or the seat left in the other car appear nowhere in the official text as grounds for unrestrained travel. This page treats them accordingly, with no invented grey areas.
Three one-minute checks before a trip#
The first is height measured properly, without shoes, because the line includes the 135 cm value. The second is the height and weight limit in the seat manual: a child can outgrow the current seat before the legal line, and then the seat is no longer the right device however new the car is. The third, for the front seat only, checks whether the manual permits fitting there and whether the corresponding airbag is absent or, if fitted, has been deactivated by the driver.
The rule read here is a Romanian road-traffic rule, in the form officially summarised on the reading date, for driving in Romania. It replaces no maker instruction and turns no result on this page into a crash-safety guarantee. For choosing and fitting a seat, the maker’s manuals and the device approval standards decide, with the law as a minimum line behind them.
Frequently asked questions#
My child is exactly 135 cm. Is the seat still needed?
In a family car, yes. The official wording is “with a height of up to 135 cm”, so the line itself remains inside the restraint zone. Over 135 cm the adult-belt option appears, adjusted away from the neck and face.
Can the child seat go in front if the rear bench is full?
Only if the maker’s instructions permit that position and the condition for the corresponding frontal airbag is met: if the car has one, the driver must deactivate it; if the car has none, the law provides that alternative in Article 97(1⁶)–(1⁷). A full bench is not, by itself, one of the conditions.
Can a rear-facing carrier sit in the front?
Only if the carrier manual permits the front seat and the corresponding frontal airbag is absent or deactivated by the driver. Automatic child-seat detection does not replace deactivation of a fitted airbag. Check both the carrier and car manuals before fitting it.
Is a child seat needed in a taxi?
For a child up to 135 cm, the Article 97(1¹) taxi exception applies only when the child occupies a seat other than the front passenger seat. A child up to three must be supervised by someone other than the driver. The exception does not cover the front passenger seat or the family’s own car.
Can a child over 135 cm stay in their child seat?
The rule admits both options over 135 cm: a correctly adjusted adult belt, or a child restraint. The limits in the seat manual can close the second option before the law does.
What if I do not know how the airbag switches off?
Check the car manual. If the corresponding front airbag is fitted, the driver must deactivate it; automatic child-seat detection is not enough. Until you confirm the airbag situation and the restraint maker’s permission, the front-seat exception cannot be confirmed.
Sources and how they were checked#
- Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the official “Children in cars” answer page, read on 7 November 2026; its answer summarizes the taxi exception
- Government Decision 1391/2006, Article 97, consolidated text on the Legislative Portal, checked on 7 November 2026
- Government Decision 11/2015, the amending act for Article 97
The official ministry page and the consolidated text of Article 97 were read on 7 November 2026. The ministry answer summarizes the taxi exception; the regulation specifies the permitted seat and requires a child up to three to be supervised by someone other than the driver. For the front seat, the law requires maker permission and driver deactivation if the corresponding airbag is fitted, or provides for a car with no such airbag. Automatic child-seat detection does not replace deactivation. The seat and car manuals govern the actual fit; results here are no crash-safety guarantee. Review on amendment to the regulation and by November 2027 at the latest.