A child safety seat on display at Petersen Automotive Museum on August 4, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. An Alabama legislator has filed a bill that would increase the requirements for child safety seats. (Araya Diaz/Getty Images for 4moms)
A state representative has introduced a bill for next year’s legislative session that would update the age and weight requirements for children’s car seats, along with increasing the penalties for those in violation.
Rep. Ron Bolton, R-Northport, the bill’s sponsor, said in an interview on Monday that it was introduced as a preventative measure and that the main goal is to keep children safe.
“All we are interested in is getting folks to put their children in the seats,” Bolton said. “We are just trying to save children’s lives.”
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If passed, the bill would go into effect Oct. 1, 2025.
The proposed bill would require infants to remain in a rear-facing position until the child is at least two years old or weighs 35 pounds. Under current law, the requirement is at least one year of age or at least 20 pounds. In addition, children would be required to use convertible seats until they are at least five years old or weigh 65 pounds. The current law requires at least five years or 40 pounds.
“Pediatricians were seeing heavier, larger children and the initial recommendations had changed with the poundage of the child,” Bolton said. “Alabama’s law had not been changed to meet the statistics they were showing us, and we knew we had to increase these things.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration , properly using car seats can reduce fatalities for children under 1 year old and by 71%, and 54% for children ages 1-4.
The National Safety Council reported that in 2022, 599 children died in a vehicle crash. Bolton hopes that by instituting these new restrictions on car seats and by holding drivers responsible, that number will decrease.
“These are preventative measures,” Bolton said. “We’re going to bring everybody into compliance to try to keep from having children injured by their actions and try to get people to comply with the law.”
Children riding in belt-positioning booster seats will also face an increase in restrictions. Under the new legislation, children must sit in a booster seat until they are at least six years old, and meet numerous requirements regarding seat belt placement and child height.
In addition to seat requirements, punishments for those who violate the new mandates would also increase. After one violation, people will be ticketed $25 and will be required to attend court. The fine increases with each violation, with the fourth and subsequent violations in a five-year period carrying a $150 fine, along with a mandatory court appearance.
Of the first $25 fine, $15 will be taken out and given to the Department of Public Treasury to work with the Department of Public Health to go towards a voucher program that will provide car seats to families in need.
Beginning October 2024, the Alabama Department of Public Health will give car seats to families on a limited income who have received citations regarding car seats. However, the program is only available to those who receive citations in Montgomery, Calhoun and St. Clair counties. As long as the ticket was given in one of those counties, people can live anywhere in the state and qualify for the program.
Bolton previously served as the Northport Police Captain. He said a police officer had reached out to an elected representative after witnessing a child fatality wreck, who put him in touch with Bolton.
“The parent had been ticketed numerous times for failing to secure the child in a seat,” Bolton said. “We worked a little bit to increase the fines and put in a mandatory court appearance to make sure that we do the best we can to curtail that behavior.”
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Updated at 9:01 a.m. to state that an officer who witnessed a child fatality wreck had reached out to a representative who spoke to Bolton. A previous version said a partner of Bolton’s witnessed it.
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