The Rules for Car Seats in NYC
A mishmash of laws can confuse parents regarding the safety of their children when traveling in New York City. From the wide-ranging applicability of New York’s seat belt laws to uncertainty surrounding what kinds of car seats (if any) are required to keep children safe while riding with a motorist in his or her vehicle, it’s hard to determine with precision whether your child’s seating arrangement in your vehicle is compliant with relevant rules and regulations.
In general, all seats in any vehicle must have a working seatbelt, and all occupants – including drivers, passengers, and children – are required to use that seat belt. In addition to this blanket rule, there are additional car seat laws that must be followed, including pertaining to the age, weight, and height of all passengers under the age of 16, who must utilize a seatbelt or an appropriate car seat while riding in a motor vehicle.
Unless utilizing a federally approved medical equipment device, all children under the age of 8 must ride in an appropriate car seat. A seat must be placed into the rear of a motor vehicle, with any harness that comes with the car seat appropriately tightened . Infants must utilize an infant car seat, which is a rear-facing model. As a child grows, he or she will eventually have enough strength to transition into a child safety seat, which is utilized for children aged 1-4 years and face-forward. Finally, booster seats can be used for children aged 4-8 years who weigh less than 100 pounds.
Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law, the requirements for a car seat are as follows:
- Infants under the age of 1 and/or weighing less than 20 pounds must travel in a rear-facing car seat.
- Children aged 1-4 and/or weighing at least 20 pounds, must travel in a front-facing car seat.
- Children aged 4-8 and/or weighing 40-80 pounds, must travel in a booster car seat.
- Children aged 8-16 must travel in a safety seatbelt.
Every age and size group must be provided with a seat belt or car seat assembly that is appropriate to that particular child. Short-term fixable children should consider a clip to their seatbelt to keep it from slumping off their shoulder, while a more permanent solution is to secure a suitable booster seat to the rear seat of your car. Additionally, while on public transportation, children less than 2 years old are strongly recommended to have a safety seat of their own.
NYC Law on the Types of Car Seats Required
The types of car seats required by NYC law will depend on the stage of development of the child in question, and there are several different types of seats mandated by law. All children under the age of four must be put in a rear-facing car seat that is secured to the back seat of the vehicle. Once they reach the age of four, booster seats designed for children between the ages of four and eight must be used. When the child turns eight years old they are then permitted to sit in the back seat using the car’s seatbelt directly.
These are the baseline requirements of the law that parents must always have, but parents are strongly advised not to stop there and to instead go above and beyond with even more protection if they so desire. Ideally, you want your child to be secure in their car seat for as long as possible, and you certainly want your car seat to last for as many years as you have children that require the use of a car seat. With that this in mind there is a general guideline from the CDC to keep the children in rear-facing car seats until two years old or until they reach the maximum weight limit for their car seat. While keeping a child in a rear-facing seat may make it more difficult to put them in the seat or get them out, it is also the safest possible way to transport a young child in NYC. It pays to be safe.
NYC Car Seat Laws on Installation
The safest way to transport a child is by using a car seat. Car seat laws in NYC are strict with the purpose of keeping children safe. However, even the strictest car seat laws will not keep a child safe if the car seat is not properly installed. Proper installation of car seats is a must for parent of young children. An improperly installed car seat or booster seat can cause car accidents and injuries.
The following steps explain how to properly install car seats:
• Only place a rear facing car seat in the back seat of a vehicle.
• Use a car seat at all times when a child is in your car.
• Follow the instructions that come with your car seat.
• If possible, have a professional check the car seat for proper installation. A professional can be someone in the administration of a local hospital or safety organization.
• Use the LATCH system. The LATCH system can be found in many vehicles made after 2002, tux as the Nissan Altima.
• Keep the seat tight enough that the car seat can’t move more than an inch in any direction.
• Make sure that you can see the level indicator easily on the base of the seat.
• Have the harness straps tight on the child so that the child can’t wobble or slip out of it.
If you have questions about NYC car seat laws, you should talk to your car insurance company. Your insurance company can explain the laws to you. You can also visit the New York City Land of Caution website for car seat information.
Penalties for Violation of NYC Car Seat Law
With the strict regulations that NYC places on car seat usage, there are no excuses for parents and guardians to use outdated or improper restraints for their children. As a staple of NYC vehicular law, any motor vehicles should have a properly functioning car seat at all times. As an extension of the "all or most required" tests set in place by NYC Child Seat Laws, a failure to have a functioning car seat is considered a criminal offense that can invoke an NYC traffic ticket. Legally speaking, not having a car seat/employing the wrong kind of car seat is a violation of §231-11 of NYC traffic law. This also criminalizes the act of refusing to use a car seat after being involved in a collision. While some motorists obtain car seats for their children, others don’t really seem to care at all and often face steep fines . While it’s understandably hard to ensure that your child’s car seat is up to standard, the unfortunate truth is that many parents violate NYC’s Child Seat Law; the consequences of these repeated violations are severe: Car Seat Violators can be subjected to heavy fines of up to $600 dollars. It’s incredibly important that NYC parents embrace child seat laws and ensure the safety of their children while the family is driving in New York. In addition to potential fines, habitual violations can lead to license suspensions and eventual parking tickets: These potential consequences go to show just how intense New York City is about enforcing its child seat laws. While the consequences are severe, they’re put into place for the safety of New York’s youth. As such, you’ll want to make sure that your child is always up to speed with NYC’s car seat laws. Furthermore, should your child need a new car seat, NYC has several resources for obtaining them at a low cost.
Car Seat Myths Debunked in NYC
Myth #1: Any car seat will work with a taxi or Uber. While it’s tempting to pack an extra car seat in case of an emergency, take advantage of the fact that most livery drivers are trained to assist in the event of a car accident. But not all are, so it’s a good idea to check on the driver ahead of time and clarify with them that you have a car seat to install – and ask if they know how to do it. When in doubt, avoid using a taxi or rideshare service and call a car for hire that has a car seat. (We recommend contacting a company that specializes in transporting parents with a child, like www.childcarsafetyservice.com.)
Myth #2: My child can be forward-facing when they’re two. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated its car seat safety guidelines in 2018 to state that children should be rear-facing until age 2 or 20-40 pounds, whichever comes first. The NHTSA also advocates for this new guideline, which was based on research proving that the risk of injury is reduced by 78 percent when a toddler is rear-facing. It’s important to note that the AAP’s updated recommendation is a minimum standard – ideally, children should stay rear-facing for as long as possible, until they reach the maximum height and weight limit of their car seat.
Myth #3: It’s safe for my child to ride in a booster seat with a loose seat belt. Whether your child is using a lap belt, a shoulder belt, or both, it’s vital that you ensure that their seat belt fits properly. If you can pinch any seatbelt slack, it’s too loose and you need to tighten it up. Make sure the lap belt lies low and snug across your child’s upper thighs (and not their stomach), and that they can’t slide under the lap belt.
Myth #4: It’s okay to use a car seat that is over 10 years old. Car seat expiration dates are standard across the industry for a reason: a decade’s time is too much for a car seat, even if it hasn’t been in use. The plastic parts can start to deteriorate from exposure to sun, indoor heat, humidity, or temperature fluctuations in the car, and those same parts can put intense pressure on the straps or buckle, causing them to break down and lose effectiveness. If you’re using a car seat that is over 10 years old, you should buy a new one.
Pamphlet for Parents on the Rules for Car Seats
As a New York parent, you have a variety of resources available to help stay abreast of local car seat laws and other rules, as well as to get your seat checked by an expert. Specifically, the NYC Department of Transportation features a car seat inspection station locator, which pinpoints certified inspection stations around the city. This can be a helpful resource, especially if your child is at the point where he or she no longer needs to be in a rear-facing seat. Proper installation, positioning, and operation is critical in this case, and an experienced professional will be able to execute this far better than you will be able to . Many institutions also host car seat workshops, which can provide you with the latest and most important information about proper installation of, and potential hazards associated with, car seats. Additionally, there are a number of online guides to car seat safety that are easy to understand and navigate. Many offer information regarding weight and height requirements, along with specific recommendations for when to transition a child to a different seat or seating arrangement. You can also find plenty of information on NYC-specific laws and requirements.
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