Booster seat law

[Sienna]

Can someone confirm California's booster seat law? My understanding is that kids under 6-years-old and 60 pounds need to be in a booster seat. Is that still correct, or were there new laws on January 1?

 

[mindylovesmickey]

This law is still the same.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/pgs46thru47.htm

 

[Tink208]

Unless there has been a change that I haven't heard about, the law is that a child must be in an appropriate child restraint system (car seat/booster seat, which ever is better for their size/age) until they are 6 years old OR 60 pounds.

 

[godalejunior]

So.....if your child is 6 and 65 lbs. he just needs sit in the backseat, use the seatbelt, and not a booster seat?

 

[Brooklyn]

So.....if your child is 6 and 65 lbs. he just needs sit in the backseat, use the seatbelt, and not a booster seat?

Yes. It is 6 OR 60 so you would be fine.

 

[Mom2Joce]

FYI...the law DID change!! Like you said it used to be 6 OR 60 but it changed to 6 AND 60 a few years back!

 

[Mom2Joce]

NO!! It is 6 AND 60!!

 

[Mom2Joce]

RIGHT!!! 6 AND 65 is fine in the back seat with JUST a seat belt!!

 

[Tink208]

From the State Vehicle Code:

27360. (a) A parent or legal guardian, when present in a motor
vehicle, as defined in Section 27315, may not permit his or her child
or ward to be transported upon a highway in the motor vehicle
without properly securing the child or ward in a rear seat in a child
passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal motor vehicle
safety standards, unless the child or ward is one of the following:
(1) Six years of age or older.
(2) Sixty pounds or more

(I did keep my older son in his booster seat until he was almost 8 years old, and plan to keep my younger one in his as long as possible, too. The question was what the law is.)

The entire Vehicle Code in question can be found here:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=veh&group=27001-28000&file=27360-27368

 

[godalejunior]

Thanks guys.

 

[pixiewings71]

6 and 60, if you want to confirm please contact your insurance agent and ask them to find out for you. OR call the LAPD and ask them, they will also let you know.

I kept my DD8 in her booster until her 8th birthday, I felt much safer with her in it and she could have cared less. She was very excited when I took her booster and put it in the back on her birthday....she had forgotten she was off the hook when she turned 8. lol

 

[Leofoenget]

Unless there has been a change that I haven't heard about, the law is that a child must be in an appropriate child restraint system (car seat/booster seat, which ever is better for their size/age) until they are 6 years old OR 60 pounds.

its not OR 60 lbs its 6 years old AND 60lbs. If a child is 7 years old and 55lbs they still need a booster. Weight over age.

 

[nunzia]

We will need to take cabs to the GC from the Fulletron train station. What do we do about all the kids in the cab? (ages 7, 5, 3,2 and 1.) De we need to bring car seats on the train for all or do they have car seats by request for cabs, or maybe a shuttle?

 

[Loralynnh]

From my understanding the law states "OR" and not "AND". for those that think it's says AND can you please post the law for us to see? Now I would RECOMMEND your child be in a booster longer then that but I do believe the LAW IS "OR" still. Not AND.

it's 60 or 6 years from the CA state DMV Site.

 

[kylieh]

We're also off to NV on our trip - whose website reads 6 and 60 pounds. I wrote to them asking for clarifications and this is my response... (My daugther will be 6 and around mid-high 50's when we travel):

Since NV law requires a child both under age 6 AND 60 lbs to be in a proper car seat, your daughter will not be required to be in a seat because she’s turned six years old. She meets one of the qualifiers to graduate from a seat.

However: safety experts recommend a child ride in a booster seat (after 40 lbs) until they reach 4’9” tall. This is because a seat belt is made to protect someone of at least this stature (adult). All a booster seat does is lift the child up to ‘trick’ the seat belt into laying on the strong parts of a child’s body (collar bone and hip bones) rather than on their soft vulnerable parts, like tummy and neck. Prematurely graduating a child to a seat belt only can result in internal lacerations and injuries, caused by the seat belt, doing its job in case of a crash.

 

[brenda1966]

Yes, I'd like some clarification on this as well. The way the law posted states, it would be "or". The way the nevada law with the "and" reads still means it's an "or" because once your child passes one of the barriers, they don't need a booster seat.

DD is 6 and will ride in a booster seat in our rental car, but when I drop the rental car off and have them give me a ride back to my hotel, it would be nice to be able to do it without the booster, because then I can just have them drop me right at DL and not have to walk from the hotel to DL!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

My understanding is that shuttles and buses are not required to use booster seats; with that many people traveling in your party, I would think you'd be on one of those modes of transport anyway.

we used a shuttle on our last trip (only 4 of us.) We did not travel with DS7's booster, but we did use one for DS3.

 

[Kimberlina]

I actually just asked this question on car-seat.org the other day in preparation for our upcoming trip, to be sure that if dd was in a booster (unlikely- unless something really drastic happens in the next month, she will be in her car seat) we were still okay LEGALLY. The person who answered my question is one of the board moderators and a certified CPST. This is a snippet of the reply she wrote:

"The very first thing I want to say is that state laws can vary, but the laws of physics are the same no matter what state you are in. A crash is a crash, and crash forces will be the same regardless of what state law says is okay. State laws are the bare minimums, arbitrary rules set by politicians, and they very rarely actually reflect what is safest for a child.

California law says a child must be in an appropriate, properly used restraint until 6 years old or 60 pounds. This means the restraint must be used in accordance to the manufacturer's instructions. This means that some boosters can be used by children weighing just 30 pounds.

However, I must say again, state laws are the bare minimum. They are to be looked at as the floor, not he ceiling. And what parent wants to do the bare minimum for their child's safety? "




I'm just putting that out there as the response I got from a CPST to basically the same question. It helped solidify my choice to make sure that if DD has outgrown her current car seat (height-wise) that I would buy her another car seat (the Graco Nautilus, FWIW) and keep her in it until she outgrows that. I double-checked her height the other day, though, and she is okay for a little while longer.

 

[biolabetty]

This might be helpful, it is from the California Highway Patrol website, and it says what they will ticket for, and what type of vehicles are exempt. http://www.chp.ca.gov/pdf/ca_vr_laws.pdf

There have been a ton of commercials here in California about keeping your child in a booster seat until they reach 4' 9", which does seem like quite a while if you happen to have a fairly short child. I'll do it though, because my children's safety is the most important thing to me.