State Legislative Activities:
Thirty-Three States Require Booster Seat Use

As of November 1, 2005, 33 States and the District of Columbia had enacted provisions in their child restraint laws requiring the use of an appropriate restraint device or booster seat by children who have outgrown their child safety seats but are still too small to use an adult safety belt correctly.

The following jurisdictions have enacted these lifesaving provisions:

Arkansas Maryland Pennsylvania
California Montana Rhode Island
Colorado Nebraska South Carolina
Connecticut Nevada Tennessee
District of Columbia New Hampshire Vermont
Delaware New Jersey Virginia
Georgia New Mexico Washington
Idaho New York West Virginia
Iowa North Carolina Wyoming
Illinois North Dakota  
Indiana Oklahoma  
Louisiana Oregon  
Maine    

State Booster Seat Requirements, as of November 1, 2005 - click [d] for long description[d]

Specific provisions vary widely from State to State. All laws include an age limit, but some States also emphasize weight limits, while others also stipulate height requirements.

State Booster Seat Requirements, by Age, as of November 1, 2005 - click [d] for long description[d]

Booster seat provisions were most recently enacted in Connecticut, Idaho, New Mexico, and West Virginia.

Please Note: States have continued to strengthen their child restraint laws in other ways, such as requiring children to ride in the back seat, and prohibiting children, especially infants, from riding in the path of an active front-passenger air bag.
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