Police were due to set up roadchecks today to trap motorists flouting a new child seat law.

The new seatbelt legislation makes it illegal to carry a child under 12-years-old without booster seats or cushions.

Roadchecks have been set up around the county during the first hours of the new law and parents not adhering to the new guidelines could get slapped with a £50 fixed penalty fine.

The new law aims to improve the likelihood of children surviving a car crash by ensuring they are properly restrained and not left in adult seatbelts.

Malcolm Collis, manager of the specialist units roads policing, said: "The Department for Transport estimates the new law will prevent over 2,000 child deaths or injuries nationally each year.

"This figure alone shows how important using the correct seatbelt restraints are.

"It is also very important for all drivers and passengers to appreciate just how effective seatbelts can be.

"Studies of those killed in Thames Valley show that had they worn their belts two thirds of them would be alive today.

"This figure rises over 80 per cent for those in the back seats.

"This is a really tragic statistic which nationally could account for over 1,000 lives lost needlessly every year; and all for the sake of the second or two that it takes to belt up."

Any drivers found travelling with their children being carried incorrectly restrained will face a £50 fine or be summoned to attend court.

Oxfordshire County Council staff were also set to work with Thames Valley Police to highlight the change in the law.

Jane Barber, whose 13-year-old son Josh Bartlett, of Blackbird Leys, Oxford, was killed in the May 2005 Eastern Bypass crash, was due to join officers and talk to parents about the new law and how they offer the best protection to their children.