injury and violence prevention (ivp) Branch

Two babies

Car Seat Basics

Correctly installing a child safety seat can be challenging. The resources below are designed to help you learn how to select and correctly install the best seat for your child and vehicle, and how to correctly secure your child into the safety seat.

Getting Help from Your Local Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Programs

Individual education to safely install and use your car seat

According to NHTSA research, 8,325 lives have been saved by the proper use of child restraints during the past 30 years. However, NHTSA has found that three out of four child safety seats are improperly installed. Failure to read the child safety seat instructions, in addition to vehicle owner manual instructions regarding installation, could result in serious injury or death because of a failure of the child safety seat to be securely or properly restrained. To help parents and caregivers to properly secure their children VOSP has identified the following organizations that provide child safety seat fitting stations throughout the state. These stations help parents by offering certified safety seat technicians to c heck their seats (and some offer low-cost car seats) either through appointments and/or specific checkup days each week or month. Some stations offer bilingual services.

Listed below are links to organizations that provide these services:

Who’s Got Car Seats? is the California statewide directory of CPS programs and services in California by county, which also includes the contact information for the CPS Coordinator in every local health department. Check to see which organizations provide car seat inspection services.
SAFE KIDS Coalitions and Chapters - educational materials, car seat distribution programs, child safety seat installation, and CPS training.
California Highway Patrol Area Offices - Locations that provide information and car seat inspection services.
NHTSA Child Safety Seat Inspection Locator - Locations that provide information about local CPS services and car seat inspection services.
AAA - Locations that provide information and car seat inspection services.

Choosing and Using a Car Seat

Choosing

Car Safety Seats Guide for Families (American Academy of Pediatrics)- AAP recommendations based on the peer-reviewed literature available at the time of its publication and sets forth some of the factors that parents should consider before selecting and using a car safety seat.
NHTSA Child Safety Seat Ease of Use Ratings - Information about child safety seat features to help parents and caregivers find the right child safety for their needs.
Car Seat Recall List - It is very important to pay attention to recall notices and to check if car seats need to be repaired or replaced. This list will show recalls issued for any failure to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213.

Using a Car Seat

Keeping Kids Safe During Crashes - Short movies and detailed information on installing and using child safety seats, booster seats and seat belts. Developed by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Partners for Child Passenger Safety

Educational Materials

CDPH CPS Parent Brochure

The CPS Parent brochure is not on the website but is available electronically. If you would like an electronic copy, please contact VOSP@cdph.ca.gov. It is available in the following languages:

English
Spanish
Arabic
Dari
Pashto
Punjabi
Russian
Chinese
Ukrainian
Vietnamese
Hmong

The brochure can be utilized to meet childcare licensing and the following Health and Safety codes (HSC):

HSC 1268 (hospitals)
HSC 1204.3 (birthing centers)
HSC 1212 (clinics)
HSC 1596.95 (day care centers)

The CPS Brochure contains the following information:

California Laws – Keep Your Child Safe in the Car

More than 1,000 children are killed in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. every year. To prevent these tragedies, select a car seat based on your child's size, then choose a seat that fits your vehicle, and use it every time.

California Law Birth TO 16 Years

Children under 2 years old must be rear facing in a car seat unless they weigh 40 pounds or more or are 40 inches tall or more.
Children under age 8 must be properly buckled into a car seat or a booster in the back seat.
Children age 8 or older, or who are 4'9" or taller, may use the vehicle seat belt if it fits properly with the lap belt low on the hips, touching the upper thighs, and the shoulder belt crossing the center of the chest. If children are not tall enough for proper belt fit, they must ride in a booster or car seat.
Exemptions: A child under age 8 may ride in an appropriate restraint system in the front seat if:
There is no rear seat.
The rear seats are side-facing jump seats.
The rear seats are rear-facing seats.
The car seat or booster cannot be installed properly in the rear seat.
All rear seats are already occupied by children seven years of age or under.
Medical reasons require that a child cannot ride in the rear seat. Proof of the child's medical condition may be required.
However, a child cannot be transported in a rear-facing car seat in the front seat that is equipped with an active frontal passenger airbag.

Protect your child –It is the Law! Fines & Penalties

In California, for each child under 16 who is not properly buckled, parents (if in the car) or drivers can be fined more than $500 and get a point on their driving records.

Rear-Facing Car Seats

Children under the age of 2 are required to ride in a REAR-FACING car seat in the back seat; as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Car seat manufacturers recommend that children remain in a rear-facing car seat until they reach the top height or weight limit allowed. Rear-facing is the safest way to ride. Once your child outgrows the rear-facing car seat, your child is ready to travel in a forward-facing car seat with a harness and tether.
Car Seat Installation Tips

Once a child is placed in the car seat, be sure that the harness straps are snug and cannot be pinched between your thumb and forefinger, that the chest clip is at armpit level, and that the car seat is tightly secured and does not move more than an inch from side to side. For rear-facing car seats, the harness straps are even with or below the shoulder and when the car seat is forward facing, the harness straps are even with or above the shoulders.

Forward-Facing Car Seats

Keep your child in a FORWARD-FACING car seat with a harness until your child reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by the car seat manufacturer. Forward-facing seats must be used with a top tether strap.
A car seat converts from a 5-point harness into a booster seat when your child is ready. Once your child outgrows the forward-facing car seat with a harness, it is time to travel in a BOOSTER SEAT, and still in the back seat.

Boosters & Beyond

BOOSTER SEATS elevate your child so that the shoulder strap fits comfortably across the chest, the lap belt stays low over the hips, and the knees bend over the seat edge. Keep your children in a BOOSTER SEAT until they are big enough to fit in a seat belt properly.
Older kids are ready to move out of their booster seat only when they pass the 5 STEP TEST.

5 Step Test

If you answer “no" to any of these questions, then the child needs to continue to ride in a booster seat.

1. Is the child sitting tall so his/her whole back is touching the seatback?
2. Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the edge of the seat?
3. Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm?
4. Is the lap belt touching the tops of the legs?
5. Can the child sit like this for the whole trip?

All children are safest, properly restrained and in the back seat until age 13.
NEVER place the shoulder belt under the arm or behind the back.

Car Seat Questions

To find an inspection station near you, go to Car Seat & Booster Seat Safety, Ratings, Guidelines | NHTSA

California law PROHIBITS smoking and electronic use of tobacco and marijuana in a motor vehicle when a minor (17 years old and under) is present. A violation is punishable by a fine of up to $100.
Dangers In & Around Cars & Kaitlyn's Law

It is against California law to leave a child who is 6 years of age or younger alone in the car without the supervision of a person at least 12 years old if:

1. The keys are in the ignition or the car is running, or
2. There is a significant risk to the child.

Children are most at risk of being injured when vehicles are moving forward or backing out of a driveway. Know the blind zones of your vehicle.
Look Before You Lock to be sure you have not left a child in the back seat. HEATSTROKE as a result of a child being left in a vehicle is a preventable tragedy.

Best Practice