Use of Child Safety Seats: Laws Mandating Use

Task Force Finding*

Child safety seat laws require children traveling in motor vehicles to be restrained in federally approved child restraint devices (e.g., infant or child safety seats) appropriate for the child’s age and size. The state laws, which vary widely, also specify the children to whom the law applies by age, height, weight, or a combination of these factors.

Child safety seat laws are strongly recommended based on their effectiveness in reducing fatal and nonfatal injuries and increasing child safety seat use throughout the Unites States. No harms or other potential benefits were reported and no qualifying economic information was identified from the literature.

*From the following publication:

Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Recommendations to reduce injuries to motor vehicle occupants: increasing child safety seat use, increasing safety belt use, and reducing alcohol-impaired driving. [PDF - 78KB] Am J Prev Med 2001;21(4S):16–22.

Review completed: June 1998