California car seat laws

[lalasmama]

I know there's been several threads lately mentioning California's Child Safety Restraint laws. I thought I'd start this thread to give some information about the laws so that there's one thread that we can reference back to when needed

From http://www.carseatlaws.com/california-car-seat-law :

Rear Facing Car Seat
##For a newborn or infant up to 20-35 pounds
##Until at least one (1) year of age and twenty (20) pounds in the back seat.
##Car Seat may never be facing forward

Forward Facing Car Seat
##A child must be over one (1) year of age and weight at least twenty (20) pounds
##Facing forward only.

Booster Seat Requirements
##The child must weight over forty (40) pounds
##Booster Seats must be used with both lap and shoulder belts
##The lap belt should fit low and tight across hips
##The shoulder belt should cross the collar bone and center of chest

And from the same site:

##Effective January 1st, 2012 children under the age of eight (8) or under four (4) feet, nine (9) inches tall must be properly secured in the rear seat of a vehicle with child passenger restraint system.
##Children under the age of one (1) weighing less than twenty (20) pounds may not ride in the front seat of a vehicle with an active passenger side airbag in a rear facing infant seat.

 

[DahliaRW]

There is no weight minimum in the law for a child to use a booster. If they meet the minimum that the booster sets forth, they may use it as such. Here is a brochure on the actual law: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/injviosaf/Documents/ParentBrochure-English.pdf

 

[bumbershoot]

Good stuff about when/if a child is ready for a booster (vs 5 point harness) here: http://csftl.org/harness-or-booster-when-to-make-the-switch/

Because it's not just laws that help us figure it out, especially while on vacation. After all, vacation means we're in an unfamiliar car, unfamiliar area, dealing with sleep deprivation and stresses that are different from home...not necessarily the time we would want to have our kids in a potentially less safe seat situation.

My kid's 10, has been out of a booster for what feels like decades now, I think he understands why I have rules in the car, and still I catch him slumping so far down the seatbelt would strangle him if I got into an accident. Sigh. There are reasons I kept him in a 5 point harness and then highback booster until his shoulders simply would not fit in the Nautilus anymore...silly kid.

 

[figment_jii]

I highly recommend putting a date on the first post (e.g., Information Current as of mm/dd/yyyy) so that folks known when the info was from. Laws change, so if this thread goes dormant and is then resurrected, it's best to clearly state when the information is from.

I would also recommend finding an official website (like the one DahliaRW linked) to use as the basis for the first post. Third party sites are usually fine, but just in case there is debate, it's better to be able to point to a CA government website or something similar. This is the "home" site for the pdf linked by DahliaRW: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/Pages/CPSinCalifornia-VOSP.aspx