Car Seat Laws Are Changing – What You Need to Know

New car seat laws are going into effect in January 2020 for Washington State and here the four things you need to know about the new revised law.

The revised law has 4 new components that you should be aware of:

Children under age 2 must use rear-facing car seats. Children should remain in a rear-facing car safety seat as long as possible, until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their seat.

 

• Children ages 2 to at least 4 years should use a forward-facing, age-appropriate child harness seat – and do so  as long as possible, until they reach the seat’s height and weight limits. Many seats can accommodate children up to 65 pounds.

• Children older than 4 but shorter than 4’9” who have outgrown the child harness seat must use booster seats.  Most kids will need a booster seat until 10 to 12 years of age.

• When children are old enough and large enough to use the vehicle seat belt alone, they should use lap and shoulder seat belts for optimal protection.

As with the previous law, drivers can be ticketed if a passenger under 16 is not using the correct car seat, booster seat, or seat belt based on their age, height or weight.

The revised car seat laws take effect starting January 2020 but it might be a good time to start getting into the habit now.

You can check out more details on the revised law here.