California Infant and Child Car Seat Laws

A large number of children are harmed or accidentally killed by the car seats that are improperly attached by parents or guardians. Keep in mind; most crashes happen inside a mile of the home—so lock your child in a car safety seat for each outing, regardless of how short the journey is. Children who are less than 8 years old must be secured in a car or booster seat fixed in the rear side of the vehicle. A law for this was brought into force in 2012. Below are some of the stipulations enforced by California for children using car seats.

Getting the Child Seated Properly

Studies have shown that children are much more prone to ride in booster seats and car seats if state law obliges it. Many parents and guardians depend on state laws to guide them in deciding how to best ensure their child’s safety. Utilizing booster seats, car seats and seat belts appropriately on every ride —lap cinch low on the hips touching the upper thighs and shoulder sash crossing the midsection— can save lives.
Seat belts are intended for grown-ups and don’t legitimately fit kids. A booster basically helps keep an infant or child safely seated in a vehicle. As per the analysts, the booster seats that change the position of the seat cinch over the strongest bones of the child’s body lessen any harm for children 4-8 years of age, by 45% as contrasted with seat belts alone. In the event that the belt overlaps the child’s waist rather than the thigh or hips bones, the child is more prone to harm the interior organs and/or spinal cord damage if involved in an accident.

California Car seat laws

Below are some California safety rules for children traveling in a moving vehicle:

• Children below the age 8 who are 4’ 9" or taller may be secured by a car seat belt in the rear seat.
• Children 8 years and over should be appropriately secured by a safety belt.
• Children 16 years and over are liable to California’s Seat Belt Safety law.
• Buckling your child with a seat belt is the safest way to secure him or her from an accident. Additionally, seat belts are the most suitable protection against impeded crashes, and occupied drivers.
• Children under 8 years or age or 4’ 9? in stature must be properly secured in a suitable car seat (government endorsed car seat or promoter seat) in the rearward seating arrangement of the vehicle.

Exceptions to using a Car Seat

The usage of a car seat in the back seat of a car can be exempted in the cases below:

• If the rear seats are pre occupied by other children who are below 8 years old.
• If there is a medical emergency.
• In cases where the car seat base cannot be properly installed in the rear seat due to unavoidable circumstances.
• Some sates are very strict on this matter. If you cannot fit a child seat for your toddler or baby, then he cannot travel legally. This applies to children under the age of three and the exceptions apply only if you are travelling in a taxi, where you can travel with your child if a car seat cannot fit.

What Happens if You Break the Law?

Child passenger restriction prerequisites vary based on the age, height and weight of the child. Regularly, this happens in three stages: babies’ use back confronting baby seats; small children use forward-confronting seat belt security seats; and slightly older kids use promoter seats.
Many state laws oblige all children to ride in the back seat at whatever point conceivable, and most states allow children over a certain age, stature or weight to utilize a grown-up car safety seat belt.
If the law finds you offending the Government rules and regulations, then the fine incurred might range somewhere from $10 to $500. A few states additionally seize the driver’s permit as an extra punishment for the offence. Child car seat and seat belt is very much essential and mandatory in case the child is younger than 8 years, and less than 57” tall and should be placed in the rear seat if applicable. In such cases, the maximum fine is $250 in California State.