New California Car Seat Law Takes Effect In January 2017
Partially for education reasons and partially for enforcement reasons, lawmakers made the existing child restraint law much more specific.
The current Vehicle Code 27360 requires children under 8 to be in the back seat and to be restrained in "an appropriate child passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards," a vague phrase that is almost impossible to enforce and also gives parents almost no guidance as to what kind of restraint is appropriate for what ages and sizes.
The new law uses the 2-40-40 rule: children under 2 who weigh less than 40 pounds and are less than 40 inches (3'3") tall must be in rear-facing car seats. Children from 2 to 8 must be in front-facing car or booster seats; children over 8 can sit buckled in the rear seat if the ...