Georgia's Child Passenger Safety Laws

Car accidents are the number one cause of death for children between the ages of two and fourteen in Georgia, according to the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. The Georgia laws that address minor passengers apply to all children under the age of six riding in a passenger automobile, van, or pickup truck while the vehicle is in motion on a public street, road or highway. All drivers must comply with the law, except taxi cabs, public transit operators, and multifunction school activity buses for children ages five and older. The Georgia Legislature is considering adding seat belt and car seat requirements in the future for all school buses.

The law requires that children be seated in the rear seat of the vehicle unless there is no rear seating position or all appropriate rear seating positions are occupied by other children. Additionally, each minor under six years old must be restrained by a safety belt or other safety device, such as a rear or forward facing car seat or booster seat.

Infants under the age of one and weighing less than twenty pounds should be seated in a rear-facing child seat placed in the rear seat of the vehicle. Infants should be kept in the rear-facing position for as long as possible, up to the height and weight limit of the particular seat. Your pediatrician can help you decide when your baby has the necessary neck strength to support himself in a forward facing car seat.

Infants over the age of one and weighing at least 20 pounds may ride in a forward-facing child safety seat. This seat should also be placed in the rear seating position of the vehicle. They should remain in this seat until reaching the maximum weight and height limits for the particular safety seat, usually around four years old and 40 pounds.

Children who’ve outgrown their forward-facing child seat (usually around four years old and 40 pounds) should move to a booster seat. The booster seat should be placed in the rear seating position of the vehicle. Children should continue using the booster seat until vehicle seat belts fit properly.

Once children outgrow the booster seat and are able to sit restrained by a properly fitting vehicle seat belt, they should still remain in the back seat whenever possible. The backseat is the safest seating position for children under the age of twelve.

All children under the age of 18 must be properly restrained in a vehicle or the driver risks a citation. In Georgia, an officer may issue citations just by observing child safety violations. The driver does NOT have to be pulled over for another violation first. Although the law requires only children under the age of six to use a booster seat, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety recommends that children ages six through eight continue to use the booster seat, until seat belts designed for adult passengers fit properly as described above.

For more information on Georgia’s Child Passenger Safety Law, please visit:

www.gahighwaysafety.org Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety

www.nhtsa.gov National Highway Traffic Safety Administration