California law requires everyone to be properly secured when riding in a motor vehicle. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 1 through 14, killing over 1,000 children yearly. Protect against this tragedy by properly securing your child in a vehicle.
If you're unsure about securing your child in a safety seat, contact the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) or your local California Highway Patrol (CHP) Area Office to speak with a child passenger safety technician.
California Law Birth To 16 Year
Children under two years old must be rear-facing in a car seat unless they weigh 40 pounds or more or are 40 inches tall or more.
Children under age 8 must be properly buckled into a car seat or a booster in the back seat.
Children age 8 or older, or who are 4'9" or taller, may use the vehicle seat belt if it fits properly with the lap belt low on the hips, touching the upper thighs, and the shoulder belt crossing the center of the chest. If children are not tall enough for proper belt fit, they must ride in a booster or car seat.
Exemptions:
A child under age 8 may ride in an appropriate restraint system in the front seat if:
- There is no rear seat.
- The rear seats are side-facing jump seats.
- The rear seats are rear-facing seats.
- The car seat or booster cannot be installed properly in the rear seat.
- All rear seats are already occupied by children seven years of age or under.
- Medical reasons require that a child cannot ride in the rear seat. Proof of the child's medical condition may be required.
- However, a child cannot be transported in a rear-facing car seat in the front seat that is equipped with an active frontal passenger airbag.
Rear-Facing Car Seats
Children under the age of 2 are required to ride in a REAR-FACING car seat in the back seat, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Rear-facing is 5 times safer than forward-facing. Car seat manufacturers recommend that children remain in a rear-facing car seat until they reach the top height or weight limit allowed. Most children will outgrow an infant carrier seat before age 1. The next step is a convertible seat which starts out rear-facing and converts to a forward-facing seat when the child reaches the upper height or weight limits.
Car Seat Installation Tips
Once a child is placed in the car seat, be sure that the harness straps are snug and can not be pinched, that the chest clip is at armpit level, and that the car seat is tightly secured and does not move more than an inch from side to side. For rear-facing car seats, the harness straps are even with or below the shoulder, and when the car seat is forward-facing, the harness straps are even with or above the shoulders.
Forward-Facing Car Seats
Keep your child in a FORWARD-FACING car seat (either a "convertible" or "combination") with a harness until your child reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by the car seat's manufacturer. Many forward-facing seats must be used with a top tether.
When your child is ready, a combination seat converts from a 5-point harness into a booster seat. Once your child outgrows the forward-facing car seat with a harness, it is time to travel in a BOOSTER SEAT, but still in the back seat.
Boosters & Beyond
BOOSTER SEATS elevate your child so that the shoulder strap fits comfortably across the chest, the lap belt stays low over the hips, and the knees bend over the seat edge. Keep your children in a booster seat until they are big enough to fit in a seat belt properly.
The right car seat or booster fits your child and your car and is one you will use correctly every time you travel.
Your children can fit an adult SEAT BELT when they are able to stay properly seated on every trip and:
- Sit all the way back in the seat with their knees bending at the edge of the seat;
- Have the lap belt stay low on their hips, touching the upper thighs; and
- Have the shoulder belt cross the center of their chest and not ride on their neck or face.
Never place the shoulder belt under the arm or behind the back.
All children are safest, properly restrained, and in the back seat until age 13.
Car Seat Questions & Installation Help
Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians are available to check your car seat installation for free. For general information, questions and help, or an inspection station near you, contact your local health department, California Highway Patrol (CHP) Area Office, or California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Injury and Violence Prevention (IVP) Branch:
Mailing Address
California Department of Public Health
Injury and Violence Prevention (IVP) Branch
PO Box 997377, MS 7214
Sacramento, CA 95899-7377
Email: ivpb@cdph.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 552-9800
Fax: (916) 552-9810
You can find free or low-cost car seats and child passenger safety services through the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) "Who's Got Car Seats?" program.
Dangers In & Around Cars & Kaitlyn's Law
It is against California law to leave a child who is 6 years of age or younger alone in the car without the supervision of a person at least 12 years old if:
- The keys are in the ignition, or the vehicle is running, or
- There is a significant risk to the child.
Children are most at risk of being injured when vehicles are moving forward or backing out of a driveway. Know the blind zones of your vehicle.
Look before you lock to be sure you have not left a child in the back seat. Heatstroke resulting from a child being left in a vehicle is a terrible tragedy.
Fines & Penalties
More than 1,000 children are killed annually in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. To prevent these tragedies, select a car seat based on your child's size, then choose a seat that fits your vehicle, and use it every time.
Protect your child - IT IS THE LAW!
In California, for each child under 16 who is not properly secured, parents (if in the car) or drivers can be fined more than $500 and get a point on their driving records.
California law prohibits smoking in a motor vehicle when a minor (17 years old and under) is present. A violation is punishable by a fine of up to $100.
California Child Passenger Safety Law
Use of child passenger restraint system for a child under age 8
Except as provided in Section 27363 of the California Vehicle Code, a parent, legal guardian, or driver shall not transport on a highway in a motor vehicle a child who is under eight (8) years of age without properly securing that child in a back seat in an appropriate child passenger restraint system meeting federal motor vehicle safety standards.
Exemptions:
- A child under eight (8) years of age may ride properly secured in an appropriate child passenger restraint system in the front seat under any of the following circumstances:
- There is no rear seat.
- The rear seats are side-facing seats.
- The rear seats are rear-facing seats.
- The child passenger restraint system cannot be installed properly in the rear seat.
- All rear seats are already occupied by children seven years of age or under.
- Medical reasons require that a child cannot ride in the rear seat. Proof of the child's medical condition may be required.
- However, a child cannot be transported in a rear-facing child passenger restraint system in a front seat that is equipped with an active frontal passenger airbag.
- A child under eight (8) years of age who is four feet nine inches (4'9") in height or taller may be properly restrained by a safety belt instead of a child passenger restraint system. Properly restrained by a safety belt means that the belt's lower (lap) portion crosses the hips or upper thighs, and the upper (shoulder) portion crosses the chest in front of the occupant.
- A child weighing more than 40 pounds may be transported in the backseat of a vehicle while wearing only a lap safety belt when the vehicle's backseat is not equipped with a combination lap and shoulder safety belt.
- In case of a life-threatening emergency or when a child is being transported in an authorized emergency vehicle, if there is no child passenger restraint system available, a child may be transported without the use of that system, but the child must be secured by a seatbelt.
- A court may exempt a child from the Child Safety Belt and Passenger Restraint Requirements if certain determinations are made.
Use of child passenger restraint system for a child between 8 and 16
A parent, legal guardian, or driver shall not transport on a highway in a motor vehicle a child who is eight (8) years of age or older but less than 16 years of age without properly securing that child in an appropriate child passenger restraint system or safety belt meeting federal motor vehicle safety standards.
References
- California Department of Public Health
- Calfornia Office of Traffic Safety
- California Department of Social Services
- California Highway Patrol (CHP) Child Safety Seats
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
- American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Updated Car Safety Seat Recommendations for Children
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Car Seat Safety for Kids
- Unattended Child In Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Kaitlyn's Law)