Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland and New Hampshire have updated car seat laws.
Here are the updated car seat laws for 2022-2023. And a list of bills that did not make it to law as far as I can find.
Remember the state car seat laws are generally the minimum standard for car seat use. For safer travels with your little one, familiarize yourself with best practice recommendations and perhaps visit with a local child passenger safety technician to discuss your specific needs.
Delaware
Delaware added some clarification about ages, weights and heights for when a child moves to the next seat. It also detailed that children under age 2 shall use a rear-facing child restraint. This law goes into effect June 30, 2024.
What it was: All children must be properly restrained in a federally approved child safety seat appropriate for the child’s age, weight and height up to 8 years of age or 65 pounds. Then they must be restrained in a seat belt.
What it is now: All children under age 16 must be properly restrained in a federally approved child safety seat appropriate for the child’s age, weight and height according to manufacturer’s instructions or a properly secured seat belt. And specifically:
- Children under 2 years and under 30 pounds must be seated in a rear-facing seat with a 5-point harness.
- Children under 4 years and under 40 pounds must be seated in either a rear-facing or forward-facing seat with a 5-point harness to the upper weight/height limits of the restraint.
- Then children shall be secured in a belt-positioning booster until they reach the upper height or weight limits of the restraint.
- Children who have passed the upper height/weight limit of their belt-positioning booster must be properly secured in a seat belt.
Now best practice would say children need to pass the 5-step seat belt fit test before moving up to the seat belt. A child could be over a particular booster’s limit before the seat belt actually fits properly. Perhaps the child should use a different belt-positioning device until the child properly fits the seat belt.
Does this mean a 4 year old who still fits in a 5-point harness needs to move up to a booster seat? The language doesn’t make it clear. Obviously if a 4 year old still fits in a 5-point harness it would be considered safer to remain in the 5-point harness than moving to a booster. I argue the intent of the law is to keep kids in the safest appropriate restraint even if the language is less than explicit.
Hawaii
Hawaii Act 122 extended their car seat law to an older age, added some clarification about ages, weights and heights for when a child moves to the next seat, and detailed that children under age 2 shall use a rear-facing child restraint. This law went into effect June 27, 2022.
What it was: Children under four years of age must be properly restrained in a child passenger restraint system that meets federal motor vehicle safety standards. Children four years of age or older but less than eight years of age must be properly restrained in a child safety seat or booster seat that meets federal motor vehicle safety standards unless the child is over 4 foot 9 inches tall or more than 40 pounds and using a lap-only belt in the back seat in which cases the child must use the vehicle’s seat belt
What it is now: Children under 10 years of age must be properly restrained in a child passenger restraint system that meets federal motor vehicle safety standards as follows:
- Children under 2 years of age must be properly restrained in a rear-facing car seat with harness.
- Children age 2 or older but less than 4 years old must be properly restrained in a rear-facing or forward-facing car seat with harness.
- Children age 4 or older but less than 10 must be properly restrained in a child passenger restraint system with harness or booster seat that meets federal motor vehicle safety standards at the time of its manufacture, unless
- Child is at least age 7 but less than 10 years of age and is over 4’9″ in height, in which case, child may restrained in a lap-shoulder seat belt.
Here Hawaii is open to using the most appropriate type of seat. They are offering a rear-facing or forward-facing seat for 2 to 4 year olds. And they offer a harness seat or booster seat for children 4 to 10 years old. This opens up the possibility for following best practice better than other laws that strictly say use a booster for children 4 and up. Good job Hawaii legislators.
Hawaii also changed the fine requirements for violations of the Hawaii car seat law.
Maryland
Maryland updated their car seat law to detail that children under age 2 shall use a rear-facing child restraint. This law went into effect October 1, 2022.
What it was: Children under the age of 8 years in a motor vehicle shall be secured in a child safety seat in accordance with the child safety seat and vehicle manufacturers’ instructions unless the child is 4 feet, 9 inches tall or taller.
What it is now: Children under the age of 8 years and less than 4’9″ in height shall be secured in a child safety seat in accordance with the child safety seat and vehicle manufacturers’ instructions. And specifically, children less than age 2 shall be secured in a rear–facing child safety seat that complies with applicable federal regulations until the child reaches the weight or height limit specified by the manufacturer of the child safety seat.
Download our report: Common Car Seat Mistakes and How to Fix Them
New Hampshire
New Hampshire also updated their car seat law to detail that children under age 2 shall use a rear-facing child restraint. This law went into effect January 1, 2024.
What it was: Children under 7 or under 57 inches shall be properly fastened and secured by a federally-approved child restraint system.
What it is now: Children under 7 or under 57 inches shall be properly fastened and secured by a federally-approved child restraint system in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications and instructions. And specifically, children up to two years of age shall use a rear-facing child passenger restraint system.
Killed bills – Maybe
Florida: HB 1211 and SB 1374 were similar bills meant to give parents the maximum flexibility based on their preferences based on the size of the child and the equipment they have, while bringing Florida car seat law into closer compliance to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration guidelines. Changes included a rear facing requirement until age 2 and keeping kids properly restrained until age 7. Currently the law goes up to age 6 at which point children can ride in just the seat belt. Neither bill made it to law.
Iowa: Legislators proposed a bill in 2022 that would have raised the age children are required to use boosters or car seats up until age 8 and required children to be rear facing until age 3. However, the bill died somewhere along the way. The Iowa car seat law remains unchanged.
Massachusetts: Bill S.1524 proposes to add a provision to require children under the age of 2 be restrained in a rear-facing car seat unless the child has outgrown the seat’s weight or height limits. There has been no movement since November 2023 so it’s possible the bill has stalled for the session.
Michigan: HB 4511 and HB 4512 propose to make sure Michigan car seat law reflects the current federal standards and to eliminate confusion from the 10 different answers on the internet about which car seat is appropriate. (Selecting the right a car seat, or car seat type, is very child and family situation dependent. I believe, it cannot be dictated in a law.) It passed the House and was sent to Senate committee in October 2023 with no movement since.
Related laws
Massachusetts: Bill H.2425 proposes to require seat belts on school buses. A January 2023 update says no further action has been taken. It appears this bill stalled in the House.
Ohio: HB 279 requires every school bus be equipped with seat belts for each student within five years. It was introduced to House committee in September 2023. The status has not been updated since.
Try again next year
New Hampshire: House Bill 222 tried to establish a seat belt law for adults. The New Hampshire House voted 206 to 162 against establishing a seat belt law. They remain the only state that does not require adults to wear seat belts. As the New Hampshire motto says, “Live free or die.”
Opponents of the seat belt law for adults said this law would interfere with personal freedom. They claim choosing to not use a seat belt is a victimless “crime.” I argue it is not a victimless crime if there are other people in the car. Other passengers can be injured in a crash due to the unrestrained occupant becoming a projectile.
Previously updated car seat laws extending rear facing
- in 2015
- New Jersey
- Oklahoma
- in 2016
- California
- Pennsylvania
- in 2017
- Connecticut
- New York
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- in 2018
- Illinois
- Nebraska
- Virginia
- in 2019
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Washington
- in 2021
- Nevada
American Academy of Pediatrics increased the national standard to at least age 2 back in 2011. And states have gradually been increasing the rear-facing age requirement to up to 2 years old. However, more recently the American Academy of Pediatrics increased the standard again. Now they recommend what car seat experts have been expressing for years. That is to keep the car seat rear-facing for as long as possible until the maximum height or weight allowed by the seat is reached.
You can see the remainder of the car seat laws by state here.
By Amie Durocher, Creative Director at Safe Ride 4 Kids and certified CPS Tech since 2004
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