Californai car seat laws?

Question

Am trying to find out the latest laws for car seats in californai but i can't find them anywhere do dose anyone know where i can read them.

Answer 1

Here are some great summaries of California state law, also some Frequently Asked Questions about specific situations:

http://carseat.org/Legal/6_sum_CA_Law.pdf
http://carseat.org/Legal/99_Enf.pdf
http://carseat.org/Legal/636_CAlaw_guide.pdf

A few things that are important to note, though:

State laws are actually the "floor", the bare minimum, not the "ceiling" or what is actually safest and best practice for your family.

Every step up in carseats/boosters is actually a step down in safety, even though our society seems to view it as more of a graduation, a step in growing up that is to be celebrated.

Kids should stay rear-facing to a bare minimum of 12 months old and 20/22 pounds (some seats have a minimum forward-facing weight limit of 22 pounds; some seats have a minimum forward-facing height limit of 34 inches). However, rear-facing as long as possible is safest, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended for at least five years to keep kids rear-facing to the maximum limits of a convertible carseat.

All convertible seats in the US rear-face to 30 (Evenflo And Graco), 33 (Sunshine Kids and Britax) and 35 pounds (Cosco, Safety 1st, Eddie Bauer). Most kids can easily stay rear-facing to age 2, which is great, because recent studies show that kids under age 2 who are forward-facing are four times more likely to die or be seriously injured in a crash than kids the same age who are rear-facing.

Kids should stay in harnessed seats as long as possible. A harness provides two more points of restraint than a vehicle seatbelt, helping to hold a smaller, younger child in place much better, especially in side impacts and rollovers, the most deadly types of crashes.

Most kids outgrow most convertible carseats by height before weight, so it's important to choose seats with tall top harness slots to help ensure kids don't get too tall (shoulders over top slots) before reaching the harnessed weight limit.

Highback boosters provide side impact protection, backless boosters do not, so it's best to use a highback as long as possible. Some adjust high enough to accommodate kids to about 5 feet tall. Backless boosters are acceptable ONLY in seating positions that have headrests or high vehicle seatback at least up to the tips of the child's ears. If the vehicle has no headrests and/or lowback seats, highback boosters must be used as long as possible for head and neck protection in a crash.

Booster seats can never be used with only lapbelts.

Answer 2

Click the link below

Answer 3

Scatterbunny said *everything* I was going to say, LOL.

Answer 4

http://www.carseat.org/Legal/6_sum_CA_Law.pdf