- Child restraints required by State law vary based on the child’s age, weight and height. The three broad categories of child restraints are rear-facing infant seats, forward-facing child safety seats and booster seats.
- All States and U.S. Territories require safety seats for infants and children meeting certain criteria.
- All States (except Florida and South Dakota), the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico require booster seats or other devices for children who are not large enough to use an adult, 3-point restraint but have outgrown their forward-facing seat.
- Five States (California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York) require school buses to have seat belts. Texas requires seat belts on buses purchased after September 2010.
According to the Professional Journal Pediatrics in 2008, children under age two are 75% less likely to be killed or suffer injuries in a crash if they are riding rear-facing rather than forward-facing.
For children one to two years old, facing rear is five times safer than facing forward. Although most infants outgrow a strictly rear-facing restraint before they are a year old, they are not ready for a forward-facing seat. Convertible seats allow children in this next phase to ride rear-facing, in some cases, up to 45 pounds. Putting a child in a forward-facing seat too early could result in spinal cord damage in certain crashes as a result of the child’s head being unrestrained and thrust forward.
Children should remain in a forward-facing seat until, at least, four years old and 40 pounds. That is the law in the vast majority of States and Territories. The real measure for moving to a booster seat is when the shoulders are higher than the top set of harness-strap slots in the forward-facing seat’s back. For toddlers and children who are out of rear-facing seats, forward-facing seats are the safest option for as long as the child fits as described above.
Whenever children outgrow their forward-facing seat, it is imperative they are not allowed to skip the booster seat phase and go straight to using adult, 3-point restraints. Some reports estimate 94% of parents skip this step. THIS IS A DANGEROUS MISTAKE! A booster seat properly positions the vehicle’s lap and shoulder belts on the child’s torso. Without the aid of the booster, the belts will be too high, lying across the child’s stomach and neck. In certain crashes, this belt positioning can cause serious, permanent and disabling injuries, or death. Most kids need to remain in a booster seat until, at least, eight years old.
The Governors Highway Safety Association has assembled a chart summarizing child restraint laws, when adult safety belts are permissible and the maximum fine for a first offense for not comply with the law. See http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/childsafety_laws.html. Although requirements for rear-facing and forward-facing seats are probably where they should be, Florida, South Dakota and some Territories are lacking in safety for older children with their failure to incorporate booster seat laws. Only a few States have taken the important step of requiring seat belts in school buses. Hopefully this trend will become the rule rather than the exception soon throughout the rest of the nation.
Written By:
William J. “Will” Maiberger, Jr.
WATTS GUERRA LLP
4 Dominion Drive, Bldg 3, Suite 100
San Antonio, Texas 78257
Phone: (210) 447-0500
Email: wmaiberger@guerrallp.com
* This information is provided to supply information relating to restraints, and should not be received as legal advice. Legal advice is only given to persons or entities with whom Watts Guerra LLP has established an attorney-client relationship. If you have a lawyer, you should consult with your own
attorney, and rely upon his or her advice, rather than the information contained herein.
© Watts Guerra LLP 2015
