If you’re finding the ultimate guide to car seat laws in the United States, here is the right place.
We create an interactive map of car seat laws for 50 US states so that you can have a quick look at the weight and height, and age requirements in the state where you live or plan to travel.
We also make a complete list that contains the car seat laws for 50 US states and also includes the government’s car seat laws statements for each state.
The car seat laws for traveling with kids are not exactly the same in any two states in the United States.
Even there might be some common laws and recommendations on the child restraint systems.
This makes it a bit confusing for parents and caregivers who are going to take children traveling across different states, or for families that have young toddlers and just move to a different state.
The car seat and booster seat laws in every state might be updated occasionally, so if your family has newborn babies, you need to check the latest rules and requirements even if you have understood the earlier car seat laws.
According to NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), there are four car seat stages, with the first three stages that parents will need to use a car seat or a booster seat.
To make it simple, we list the car seat laws for US states into three categories based on the stage: rear-facing, forward-facing, and booster. Click the below icon to view all 50 US state car seat laws in that specific category.