Florida's New Booster Seat Law: What You Need to Know

When the ball drops signaling the start of 2015, the rules of the road for those who drive small children around in their vehicles will change in the state of Florida.

The new child restraint law requires that all children ages 4 and 5 must be seated within a child safety seat or booster seat. It will no longer be legal to simply buckle them in with a seatbelt.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the new law is meant to curb the number of injuries and fatalities associated with improper use of child restraints or complete failure to use them in the first place. That agency reported five deaths and 150 injuries related to improper child restraint issues in 2013. So far, the 2014 numbers are on track with five deaths and 145 injuries.

“Safety belts save lives, but only when used and used correctly,” said Terry Rhodes, executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. “Booster seats help elevate children to the height at which the safety belt will properly secure them.”

Troopers also remind parents that just because the law requires safety seats or booster seats through the age of 5, some children might technically need them longer. They offer these recommendations to determine if a child over the age of 5 is ready to wear a seatbelt without a booster seat:

• The child is at least 4 feet, 9 inches tall
• The child can sit all the way back in the seat and bend knees at the seat’s edge
• The shoulder belt lays across the chest – not the neck
• The lap belt lays across the upper thighs – not the stomach

When possible, troopers also recommend that children under age 13 sit in the back seat.

The state’s Child Passenger Safety technicians can help answer parent questions about child seat safety. For more information, visit SafeCar.com.

Patch File Photo