Are Your Kids Safe? Motor Vehicle Crashes are the #1 cause of death for children and adults, age groups 1 to 34. Selecting a safe vehicle and properly using child restraints and seatbelts may be the most important things you can do to protect your family. Please browse our articles to learn more about these topics, and visit Car-Seat.Org forums if you still have any questions.

  • Car Seat Law

    • All 50 states have laws regarding buckling up a child, but the laws concerning car safety seats are up to each individual state and can vary. In fact, according to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, almost half the states fail when it comes to their laws on safety seats. Additionally, in April 2001, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that no state met the recommended standards. This is what NHTSA suggests as far as type of seat goes. (NHTSA now also rates car safety seats on their ease of use. See the NHTSA Web site at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cps/cssrating/)

  • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Toll-Free Hot Line: 1-888-327-4236
  • Call (800) 441-1888 to receive your free SAFE KIDS BUCKLE UP materials.

Remember, it is not just the law, but a way to help prevent accidental injury or death when your children are riding in a vehicle. These laws are the minimum requirements. Children are safer riding in booster seats through 80 pounds than using the vehicle’s seats and restraint systems designed for adults.

When traveling, you must adhere to the regulations of the state you are driving in or follow your home state’s regulations. As with all traffic laws, you must follow the laws of the road — the road you are driving on at the time, not the laws of the state you originated in, or are licensed by.
We would like to recommend that you take the advice of the most stringent state’s regulations, and consider your own state’s rules, should they be less, a minimum requirement. Please remember that automobiles and their safety belts are designed with the average sized adult man in mind. They, therefore, can not adequately protect a small child.
The safest place for a child under 12, often required by law, is in the back seat.
A general rule of thumb is that children should be in a booster until their knees bend over the edge of the seat when sitting properly. You may want to use a seat belt adjust for some time thereafter.