Car Seat Laws
Constantly changing to increase our children’s safety on the road, car seat laws are something that parents, grandparents, and childcare givers need to pay close attention to. Of course, laws vary from country to country, and from state to state within the United States.
It’s important to know the laws in your own state, of course, but remember that when you travel by car, you must obey the laws of states that you are visiting.
Before you take a trip, check the laws of states you’re traveling through, and make sure you meet their minimum safety standards for your children. You should also consider using car seats for your little ones when you are traveling via train or airline.
If you’re planning on riding in a car at your destination, you’ll need to bring the car seat anyway, so put it to good use in your travels!
Many people are annoyed by car seat laws, finding them too restrictive or too expensive to obey. It’s important to remember, however, that these laws are in place to protect our children from car accidents, and even the most attentive and safe driver may be hit by another car in a situation beyond their control.
A child who isn’t restrained properly has a much higher chance of death or severe life-altering injury than a child buckled into the appropriate seat for their age.
Car seat laws vary widely from state to state. For instance, in Alabama, the law simply states that all children under the age of six must be in a child passenger restraint, while neighboring Georgia law further specifies that children should be seated in the rear seat when possible.
Other states, recognizing the correlation between stricter requirements and lower child accident mortality rates, are enacting stricter legislation, requiring children to be in an approved, crash-tested model of child restraint until he or she reaches 80 pounds and/or reaches 8 years of age.
States who have enacted these car seat laws include North Carolina, Vermont, Maine, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Complying with these laws is easy now, with the availability in major retail outlets of booster seats for children of this size.
