The child must remain in the rear seat. Child restraints car seats and booster seats. It is a proven fact that children are significantly safer in a booster seat until they are 49 tall. Floridas car seat laws are just that laws. Josephs childrens hospital said the magic number is not weight or age. Children ages 0 to 3 must be in child restraint devices of a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturers integrated child seat.
Floridas car seat laws come from florida law 316613 which is part of floridas traffic laws. Although florida law uses age to determine when a child must sit in a special restraint system aaa and the american academy of pediatrics recommend that kids continue to ride in car or booster. Florida law doesnt restrict children under 49 from transitioning to a cars safety seat provided of course that the child is over the age of five. Before switching to a booster seat the safest thing to do is make sure your child meets all of these milestones. According to florida state law children between the ages of four and five should be in an approved safety restraint or booster seat depending on the childs weight and height. In fl anyone who operates a motor vehicle with a child passenger younger than six years old must secure himher in a federally approved child restraint.
You may be able to avoid the points on your license by attending a car seat safety course but that is at the discretion of the judge in the county where your. However fl does not detail car or booster seat weight or height requirements. This is normally around age four and a weight of 40 pounds. School aged children who reach the weightheight maximums on forward facing car seats will progress to booster seats. Bevin maynard child advocacy supervisor at st. Their weight has no bearing on this requirement.
If your child or another child in your vehicle is not properly using a car seat or booster seat per the above florida laws you may receive a 60 fine and 3 points against your license. Theyre not recommendations or guidelines. This occurs at weights of up to 85 pounds and a height of at least 35 inches. Safety experts also recommend that children use a booster seat at this age. Most experts believe your child is ready for a booster seat when they outgrow the weight or height limit for their forward facing car seat. However florida still doesnt follow the american academy of pediatrics recommendations which state that children should be restrained in booster seats until they are at least 4 9 tall.
Children should remain in booster seats until they are four feet nine inches tall around ages eight to 12. Florida law 316613 says that all children 5 years or younger must have a proper car seat based on their age. That said safety experts recommend that children should continue to use the forward facing seat until they exceed the weight or height limit of the seat. Florida law requires children age 5 and under to be secured properly in a crash tested federally approved child restraint device.
Gallery of Florida Booster Seat Law Height And Weight
