But the longer you can keep them in the back seat, the better. Car seat laws do not apply to public transportation in South Carolina. If you`re planning a family trip to South Carolina, it`s important that you meet (or exceed) local child passenger safety laws. South Carolina has some of the strictest car seat laws in America, so be careful! Perhaps you want answers to simple questions like booster seat law? Or when can you move a child from a backward-facing child to a forward-facing child? Or are taxis exempt from the Car Seats Act? In general, a child can use a seat belt alone, without a car seat or booster seat, when he or she is eight years old. But they also need to fit properly to an adult seat belt. They must fit in the seat belt so that: If you want to buy a car seat online, you need to make sure it comes from a reputable shopping site. Parents should check their child`s height and weight and make sure they fit in well with that car seat. You should also get permission from the dealer to bring the car seat to their vehicle for testing. Here are some resources that can help you inspect car seats and provide you with additional help. In South Carolina, registration points are not evaluated for a car seat violation. Infants and infants under 24 months of age must travel in a rear-facing seat under South Carolina law. The seat must comply with federal safety standards.
Legally, the age (or height) at which a child can sit in the front seat varies from state to state. A child needs a booster seat in South Carolina between the ages of four and eight to fit properly into an adult seat belt. The CDC guidelines also remind motorists never to place a rear-facing car seat in front of an airbag. The SC Car Seats Act requires children to ride in a coupled car seat until they reach the maximum height or weight specified by the manufacturer, which is a wonderful statement and consistent with current AAP guidelines. A child is not legally allowed to switch to a booster seat in South Carolina until they are at least 4 years old and past the forward-facing harness. Sometimes parents move children to car seats that are too big for them. One example, Penny said, puts a 2-year-old in a booster seat without a backrest. Safe Kids Worldwide: Is it time to switch from a booster seat to a seat belt? A child can start using a booster seat instead of a car seat when they are four years old and have outgrown their forward-facing car seat. They exit their forward-facing car seat when their height and weight exceed the manufacturer`s recommendations. Once the child meets the requirements to use a booster seat, they must continue to use it until they are eight years of age and until they are the right size to use an adult seat belt. South Carolina`s rear-facing car seat law requires children to remain rear-facing until they are at least 2 years old, unless they exceed the manufacturer`s height or weight limits. Law enforcement can issue a subpoena, but they are not authorized to make an arrest for violating a car seat in South Carolina.
The court may issue an arrest warrant for failure to appear or non-payment of a fine. (Code S.C. § 56-5-6470) Since the rear seat is furthest from the front of the vehicle, it is the safest place for a frontal impact. Children who are at least 4 years of age and have exceeded the upper height and weight limit of the forward-facing car seat must be restrained in a booster seat. The booster seat is used with a pelvic shoulder harness until the child is ready to use the adult seat belt safely. A booster seat is used until the child is at least eight years old or at least fifty-seven (57) inches. When families use child seats, there is a 70 to 80 percent injury-reducing effect, according to Lee Penny, pediatric prevention manager at the Bradshaw Institute for Community Child Health & Advocacy. Exceptions to South Carolina`s car seat laws include: When it comes to safety, however, a child should not sit in the front seat of a vehicle until they are at least old enough to properly install a standard seat belt (4`9″). Some states do not have laws that prevent children from sitting in the front seats of vehicles, regardless of age (even if they are always seated in car seats). South Carolina has some of the strictest car seat laws in the United States, thanks to its 2017 update.
There are no pending changes to SC car seat laws. South Carolina`s booster seat law is structured differently than other states. Children cannot get into a booster seat until they are at least 4 years old AND have passed their forward-facing harness. Well done! I am a mother of 3 sweet angels (when they sleep), and we travel a lot. So I know how important it is to know about car seat laws. Luckily, I have a background as a paralegal, so it`s easy for me to find the right laws and translate them from high legalese into something everyone understands. One of the reasons kids do better in the back seat of a vehicle during an accident is that head-on collisions are one of the deadliest types of car accidents. South Carolina law requires the driver to ensure that children in the vehicle are held in the appropriate car seats. The driver is the party who receives the ticket for a car seat violation. For seat belt violations in older children, the driver is responsible for anyone under the age of 18, unless the teen has a driver`s license or learning license. A child is allowed to drive in the front seat in South Carolina at age eight.
However, the CDC recommends that children up to the age of 12 drive in the back seat. Current guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics are that children should remain rear-facing to the limits of their convertible car seat. Almost all convertible car seats today can accommodate children up to 40 pounds (they have varying size restrictions, so read your manual) – the height of an average 4-year-old – rear-facing.