Featured News 2012 Car Seat Laws: What They Are and Why They Are Important

Car Seat Laws: What They Are and Why They Are Important

When you are caring for a child that is under the age of 8, chances are that you will need to install some sort of child safety seat in the car for him or her. Safety seats are a practical way that parents can preserve their children in case of an accident. While the statutes vary from state to state, all across America children are required to sit in safety seats, especially when they are infants. In some states, such as Florida, Mississippi, and Minnesota, children are only required to ride in a safety restraint until they are four years old. In Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and South Dakota a child is required to right in a car seat until he or she is five.

The majority of states set their car seat age limit at six years old. California, Oregon, Washington, Georgia, South Carolina, and Nevada are just a few of the states who abide by this ruling. A few states rule that the child must be seven, while 12 other states say that the child should be 8 or over. The government reminds parents that these are the minimum age requirements for children in car seats. It is always safest for children under 80 lbs. to be in some sort of constraining device when in the car for extra safety.

When your child is an infant, he or she must be placed in a rear-facing car seat in the second seat of the car. Normally, when you purchase a car seat your local baby store, the product will come with pamphlets informing you how long your child should remain in this car seat. In most cases, when a child reaches 30 or 40 pounds, he or she will have outgrown this rear-facing seat and be able to sit in a front -facing car seat. Some car seats are convertible, so that you can set them as a rear-facing seat when the child is young and change them into a front facing one when he or she is older.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children should stay in a rear-facing car seat until they are at least two. The child should be at least 20 lbs. before he or she is transferred to front facing seat. After a certain length of time, your fast-growing child will outgrow his or her car seat, and need to promote to a booster seat. These small devices help the child to sit where the seatbelt will cross his or her chest correctly. If your child does not use a booster during this time, a car accident may be detrimental. When the seat belt is not hitting a passenger at the right spot, it could damage your child's neck area and cause strangulation and death.

When you are driving young children, you should never allow them to sit in the front seat. This is because there are powerful airbags located in the front dashboard of most cars. These airbags are created to save men and women from slamming against the hard dash in the event of a collision, but they may be too forceful for a child, and create broken bones or fatalities. Until your child is 12 years of age, he or she should always ride in the back of the car. Make sure that children who have outgrown car seats and booster seats still ride in the car facing forward with their seat-belts on correctly. By teaching your children how to properly ride in the car, you may be able to preserve their lives in the event of a dangerous car crash.

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