Florida's Child Safety Seat Laws

[bkrusen]

Does anyone know the laws in Florida in reguards to car seats and booster seat usage? Are there age, weight and height requirments for when they must use a booster seat vs just a regular seat belt? We tried to find this info on Florida's government web sites but just couldn't find the info we're looking for. Thanks!!


9 days and counting!!

 

[all4fun]

www.myflorida.com

What Florida Law says about...
Child Restraint Requirements


All children under the age of 18 must be buckled up while riding in any car, pickup truck, or van on Florida's roads, no matter where they are sitting in the vehicle.
Children through the age of 3 must be secured in a federally approved child-restraint seat.
Children ages 4 through 5 must be secured by either a federally approved child-restraint seat or a safety belt.
Drivers are responsible for buckling up the child.
The cost to a violator will be a minimum of $60.00 plus $10.00 court costs.


As far as height/weight restrictions, that probably has more to do with what kind of child safety seat you are using. Many have different height and weight limits on them. I'm not a child saftey/carseat expert but maybe someone else on this board knows more about that?

HTH!

 

[susy]

My son is 6 and at the stage where he is in a booster with the lap and shoulder belt. Unless they are tall enough that the shouler belt goes across the chest as it should on an adult, they should have a booster seat.

 

[Shelly Pierce]

You have to be 4 years old and 40 pounds to move to a booster seat and 8 years old and 80 pounds to get out of one and ride with just the seat belt. That is the recommendation of all safety experts. Car seats and booster seats are available by reservation when you rent your car.

 

[Shelly Pierce]

It is extemely dangerous for a 4,5 or 6 year old to ride with a seat belt.....(strangulation) because of where the seat belt rides on the child (their neck) if they are not in a booster seat.

 

[April76]

If you are renting a mini-van....

(Cost Savings Tip)

The last time we travelled with the kids and requested safety seats from the rental company, we were surprised to find that the mini-van we rented actually had "built-in" child safety seats (they folded down from the seat cushion back.

This was great for the kids (and there were two seats that did this -- some models only had one)...... of course, it is more like a booster seat with a harness system and doesn't surround the entire child like a car seat; but it served our needs very well and saved us some money.

Wish I could remember the model of mini-van --- but the place we rented from at the airport allows you to choose your vehicle from the lot; so we were able to check all the vans until we found exactly what we needed.

Hope this helps someone!

 

[Clover9990]

Please, please keep your older children in booster seats until they reach that 80 pound weight limit (appx 8 years old). Regardless what the law is in our state, your child's safety is of utmost importance- younger, smaller children who are fastened in with only a safety belt are at risk for increased injury in the result of an auto accident.

<Quietly stepping off my soapbox.>

 

[renda460]

We are heading to Disney in Sept and I was also trying to find a more convenient way to deal with the car seat situation. Since FL law says my 4 year old can be in a seat belt, I thought about that option. I also looked into a portable car seat that folds up and can be carried in your suitcase. Then I read a story about a mom who had put her child in a seat that was not really the right fit and they had a head on collision. The child is now paralyzed. At that point I decided that we will bring our kids full carseats with us, even if it may be inconvenient to take them on the plane, etc.
I couldnt live with myself if anything ever happened that may have been able to be prevented if we had the kids normal car seats.

As for renting mini vans, we found that most places will not guarantee a van with built in seats. All the companies we called said they carried two different types of minivans and one had carseats, the other didnt. So you wont know if you are going to get one until you get down there.

 

[beattyfamily]

Children through the age of 3 must be secured in a federally approved child-restraint seat.
Children ages 4 through 5 must be secured by either a federally approved child-restraint seat or a safety belt.

You do what is best for you and your family based on Florida's laws while on vacation.

This year I invited my sister and her DD who will be 4 when we go to WDW in August. My 2 DDs will be 4 and 8.

I am bringing 2 small booster seats for the two 4 year olds in a carseat bag and I'll check them with my luggage. I will not be bringing one for my 8 year old. That's my decision and I'm fine with it. I probably would do the same thing even if she were a bit younger. It would be difficult anyway to have 3 booster seats in the back of a full size rental car.

Have fun planning your WDW vacation!