Florida Child Car Seat laws

[purplejam]

Hi

We will be visiting WDW next August and I am unsure what the laws are relating to Children and Carseats.

My DD will be 8 and I was wondering if she will still need a booster carseat.

In England Children are required by law to have a booster seat until they are
12years old or 4'5" (whichever comes first) and I was therefore wondering what the law was in Florida.

BTW my dd is currently almost 4'3"

 

[chartle]

I got this by goggling the title of your thread.

http://www.safekids.org/in-your-area/safety-laws/child-passenger-safety-law-florida.html


Child Passenger Safety Law (Florida)

Law Summary
Florida’s law requires children ages 3 & under to be transported in a child restraint device.

Straight for the DMV

http://www.dmvflorida.org/seat-belt-laws.shtml

 

[purplejam]

Thanks very much for the reply.

DD will be pleased - she thinks car seat are 'for babies' but she'll have to put up with it for a while longer at home.

It seems England and Florida are complete opposites when it comes to carseats

 

[chartle]

Thanks very much for the reply.

DD will be pleased - she thinks car seat are 'for babies' but she'll have to put up with it for a while longer at home.

It seems England and Florida are complete opposites when it comes to carseats

I was pretty surprised. It also looks like there is no seat belt law for over 18 in the back seat.

In Pennsylvania its not as strict as England but 12 For my sons it wouldn't have been an issue since they were tall but I know some 12 year olds that aren't 4' 5" yet.

One other issue all the laws in the states only deal with cars and car like vehicles like taxi's. There are no laws for infants on buses.

 

[kksmom92]

Each state is actually different here... in Michigan both my kids need booster seats (my oldest will be 8 next month) but when we go down to Disney in January they don't "have" to have them down there, but we still will be bringing them with us even though we are flying. I personally would rather be safe than sorry.

We are staying offsite so will be driving back and forth all the time. Of course if we were saying onsite then we wouldn't worry about it.

 

[purplejam]

yeah it can be a pain - always making sure that you have enough carseats for friends etc - although we have lots

On previous trips we have always stopped at the first walmart we come to after leaving the airport to buy another booster seat (the car rental companies charge way to much to rent one) and then it always seems a shame not to take it home with us but I won't be bothering next summer particularly as DD is very tall for her age.

I guess I really didn't need to (now I've seen what the law is) but I would never dream of taking DD out without a carseat at home so always applied the same rules when on vacation she might have almost grown the 2 inches by then as well.

 

[bumbershoot]

My state of Washington is more strict than FL, but we brought a booster anyway. It's all about fitting into the seatbelt, right? And he doesn't yet. At least in the rental cars (and in our own car).

Have you seen the BubbleBum? It's what we got for DS, for the Orlando trip. He's 7 and just a tad shorter than your 8 year old, and it worked well. Got him up on the seat that crucial few inches to fit the seatbelt!


since any *bigger* booster seat you might have for your own car at home probably won't be legal here in the States (I figure that, not because they are less safe, but just b/c they aren't known...like Canadian-sold seats aren't legal in the US, and vice versa), you might look into that booster for the trip.

 

[purplejam]

Have you seen the BubbleBum? It's what we got for DS, for the Orlando trip. He's 7 and just a tad shorter than your 8 year old, and it worked well. Got him up on the seat that crucial few inches to fit the seatbelt!


since any *bigger* booster seat you might have for your own car at home probably won't be legal here in the States (I figure that, not because they are less safe, but just b/c they aren't known...like Canadian-sold seats aren't legal in the US, and vice versa), you might look into that booster for the trip.

The bubblebum looks great I'm definately going to get one. It will put my mind at rest - especially as she probably could do with out one so it wouldn't be worth my annual trip to Walmart but I will feel happier if she still has something to make her higher to ensure that the seat belts etc are in the correct position. If she didn't have a booster seat of some type I would feel like I was being an irresponsible parent

 

[CarrieR]

OP, it sounds like the BubbleBum will be perfect for your application!

For future reference, you might take a peek at the 5-Step Test, which is a great guideline to use to know when kids are big enough to graduate from their booster seats.

Scary how lax the occupant protection laws are in FL, isn't it?!

 

[purplejam]

OP, it sounds like the BubbleBum will be perfect for your application!

For future reference, you might take a peek at the 5-Step Test, which is a great guideline to use to know when kids are big enough to graduate from their booster seats.

Scary how lax the occupant protection laws are in FL, isn't it?!

Thanks for the reply - I will certainly take a look at the 5 point test although while we are at home the booster is staying for the time being, anyway I have a big collection of them from previous trips - I was just thinking ahead to next summer.

I am surprised that the law is so relaxed in Florida it would be interesting to see if there is any data to suggest that more children are injured as a result of the law, than in other places where it is more strict.

Sweeping generalisation time (so apologies ) but I would have expected the USA to be more stringent in such matters than the UK.

Regards

 

[Cest_la_vie]

OP, it sounds like the BubbleBum will be perfect for your application!

For future reference, you might take a peek at the 5-Step Test, which is a great guideline to use to know when kids are big enough to graduate from their booster seats.

Scary how lax the occupant protection laws are in FL, isn't it?!

The only thing scarier is that we allow GPS's to be used...

Everybody in a vehicle must use a seat belt. It is a primary offense, that is they can pull you over for it alone. If the person without a seatbelt is over 18 they and the driver are issued a citation, if the person is under 18 the driver is issued a citation.