Georgia's Booster Seat Law

The Dalton Police Department and the American Red Cross routinely receive calls from the public on the laws regarding car seats and when booster seats are required .  The following is an overview of Georgia's Booster Seat Law.

As of July 1st, 2004, Children under age six are  required to be in a child safety seat or booster seat appropriate to the child's height and weight and used in accordance to the manufacturer's instructions.  Also, the law required children under six year of age to ride in the rear seat.

Exceptions to the law:

• No requirement to ride in back seat if all rear seat positions are already taken by other children or there is no rear seat available.  While you may be in compliance to the law, this does not remove the potential for injury from airbag deployment to children in the front seat.
• Vehicle exemptions include multifunctional-school-activities-buses for 5 year old children and licensed childcare facility vans that have met certain state safety inspection requirements and are used for the transportation of children over four (exempted until July 2007), taxicabs and public transit.
• Children over 4'9" tall may be restrained in a safety belt without a booster seat.
• A child under six is exempt if the parent or guardian has a physician's written statement that a physical or medical condition prevents using a child safety seat or safety restraint system.

Things To Remember:

• Fines up to $50 for first offense and $100 for second offenses can be charged.  The fine is for each unrestrained child in the vehicle.
• Georgia has a "primary safety belt law" meaning that law enforcement officers can issue citations just by observing any safety belt offense.
• Every occupant under 18 must be restrained regardless of where they sit in a passenger vehicle, including pickup trucks.
• While the law may not require your child to be in a booster seat past their 6th year, it is the best practice to use a booster until your child can bend their knees comfortably at the edge of the seat and the shoulder belt fits across the center of the chest with the lap belt low and touching the upper thighs.  And, the child must be capable of staying seated this way for the entire trip.
• Child Safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury for infants by 71% and by 54% for toddlers involved in motor vehicle crashes
• Properly retraining your child in a moving vehicle is the single best way to protect them from injury and death.  Injuries and deaths from motor vehicle crashes represent 39% of all deaths among children below the age of 15.

More information can be found at the SafeKids website