Ride-on toys

A battery ride-on car has a seat and a pedal. In law it is a toy, so the toy safety rules cover it. The people who make and sell ride-ons have to meet those rules.

A ride-on is a toy

Business Companion, a guide that sets out the law for traders in England, Scotland and Wales, says the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 "set out the legal requirements for the safety of new toys supplied by a business".

The same guide gives the meaning of a toy. It is a product "designed or intended (whether or not exclusively) for use in play by children under 14 years old".

What the box and the toy must show

Business Companion lists what a business must mark on every new toy it supplies:

• the name and address of the manufacturer, and of the UK importer too if the manufacturer is based abroad;
• a type, batch, serial or model number;
• the CE mark, the UKCA mark, or both.

Those marks have to be on the toy or its packaging, and they have to be permanent and easy to read. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) confirms that a maker can use either the CE or the UKCA mark for toys sold in Great Britain.

OPSS also says warnings must be in English. Each one must start with the word "Warning" or "Warnings".

A buyer can look for each of these before the box is opened. It helps to write down the batch or model number, because recall notices use it.

What the rules ask of a battery ride-on

Schedule 2 of the 2011 Regulations sets the duties a maker has to meet. Two are written for toys that a child rides. Three more apply to every electric toy, a battery car included:

• a toy that a child moves about on "must, as far as possible, incorporate a braking system", and the child must find the brake easy to use without risk of being thrown off;
• the top speed of "electrically driven ride-on toys must be limited so as to minimise the risk of injury";
• a toy must not run on more than 24 volts direct current, or the equivalent alternating current;
• electric toys "must provide adequate protection against fire hazards";
• the transformer "must not be an integral part of the toy".

Business Companion adds that the standard makers use for electrical toys is EN IEC 62115.

The charger and the maker's instructions

OPSS says the maker has to supply instructions for safe use, along with safety information and warnings.

OPSS has published reports on ride-on chargers and wiring. In 2022 it reported a charging adaptor for a ride-on car with plug pins that did not fit British sockets, which it rated a high risk of electric shock. In 2024 OPSS published the recall of one batch of an electric ride-on car, because some may have been made without a fuse. It rated that a serious risk of fire.

Checking for a recall

OPSS keeps a public list of product safety alerts, reports and recalls on GOV.UK. Anyone can search it, and it can be narrowed to the Toys category.

In the 2024 ride-on recall, OPSS told owners to stop using the toy straight away and to check whether theirs came from the affected batch. The batch number is one of the marks a business must put on the toy or its box.

For a worry about a toy already bought, Business Companion says consumer enquiries in England, Scotland and Wales go to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service, on 03454 04 05 06.

Bought second-hand

Business Companion explains that a used toy comes under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 instead of the toy rules. A second-hand seller may offer a toy with no CE or UKCA mark. The toy must still be safe.

The guide also points out that a toy would have needed one of those marks when it was new. So, the guide says, a used toy with neither mark was likely not legal when it was new.

Useful links

• Toys: labelling and safety (Business Companion)
• Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011, Schedule 2 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011: Great Britain (OPSS, GOV.UK)
• Product safety alerts, reports and recalls (OPSS, GOV.UK)
• Product safety report: adaptor for a ride-on car (OPSS, GOV.UK)