over just for failure to wear a seatbelt. Previously, an officer needed a secondary
reason to make a traffic stop before issuing a seatbelt citation. All drivers must wear a
properly adjusted and fastened seatbelt. All front seat passengers regardless of age
must wear a properly adjusted and fastened seatbelt or be in a child restraint. There
is no law against putting children in the front seat of a vehicle with or without airbags.
However, practice is to put all children 12 and under in the back seat. If a child in a
forward facing car seat , booster seat, or seatbelt, under 12 and 100 pounds, must go
in the front seat in front of active airbag, the vehicle seat should be moved all the way
back out of the deployment zone and the parent should ensure that the child does not
lean forward at any time. A rear facing child restraint should NEVER be used in front
of an active airbag. A deploying airbag could seriously injure or kill the child.
All children under 8 years of age must be in a child restraint at all times. This includes
a car seat or booster seat not a seatbelt alone. When a child reaches 8 years they
may move into an adult seatbelt by law. However, best practice is to measure a child
for proper fit or an adult seatbelt before moving them out of a booster seat. If the child
can pass this 5-step test, they can ride in a seatbelt without a booster. This usually
does not happen until around 8 years and 4'9" depending on the child and the vehicle
they ride in. Keep in mind that a child may fit in one vehicle correctly and not in
another one.
1) Can the child sit back against the vehicle seat back without slouching?
2) Does the lap portion of the belt sit low on the hips or upper thighs without
riding up onto the abdomen?
3) Does the shoulder portion of the belt rest comfortably along the center of
the child's collarbone?
4) Do the child's knees bend comfortably over the edge of the vehicle seat?
5) Can the child sit this way for the entire trip?
Best practice for using child safety seats correctly is as follows, however, none of this
is law. Children should ride in a rear facing child restraint until they reach 1 year of
age AND 20 pounds. However, it is safest to keep a child rear facing as long as
possible. Many seats accommodate a child's weight to 30-35 pounds rear facing. A
common concern for parents is that their child's feet hit the back of the vehicle seat.
This is ok. Rear facing protects children best by protecting their head and neck in a
frontal crash, the most common. The back of the child restraint takes the impact
versus the child's head and neck. Once a child outgrows the rear facing weight limits
of their child restraint, they should be moved to a forward restraint with a harness until
they reach 40 pounds. After 40 pounds, a child can move to a booster seat until they
pass the 5-step test. When a child graduates to an adult seatbelt, they should always
be in a lap and shoulder belt position. Lap only belts are extremely dangerous for kids
and adults and should not be used if at all possible. Never allow a child to put a
shoulder belt behind their back or under their arm.
The following are additional laws about seatbelt use:
If the driver of the vehicle is under 18 and has been licensed for 6 months or less, they
can only have one other person in the vehicle with them while driving. Children,
step-children and siblings are excluded.
If the driver of the vehicle is under 18, all occupants of the vehicle must be restrained.
This means that the driver can only take as many passengers as there are seatbelts in
the vehicle.
If the driver is over 18, the only rear seat passengers who may be unrestrained by law
are those 17 and older, as all passengers 8-16 must be in a child restraint or seatbelt
at all times.
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