2 days Ago By Rachel Dobkin
DRIVERS have just a few more days to make sure they don't violate a new seat law that threatens violators with instant $65 fines. Parents in Michigan may need to take a trip to the store and buy new equipment if they want to dodge the fees before April 2. Starting Wednesday, Michigan is imposing a crackdown on child passenger safety with new car seat laws.
The new laws will require infants and children up to 2 years old to be secured in a rear-facing car seat. Children aged 2 to 5 years old may move into a forward-facing car seat. Starting at the age of 5, children can use a belt-positioning booster seat with a lap and shoulder belt.
READ MORE MOTORS The booster seat can be used until the age of 8. Age isn't the only factor parents must consider. If a child exceeds the maximum weight or height for a car seat before they reach the age requirements of these new laws, then they can move on to the next appropriate seat or seat position.
For kids using booster seats, if they reach 4'9'' before they turn 8 years old, they can move on to a regular seat belt. Most read in Motors All children under the age of 13, however, must sit in the rear of the car if the car has rear seats. Lawmakers are imposing the new guidelines because car crashes are the number one cause of death for young children.
But parents can reduce the risk of death by a massive 50 percent by ensuring their kids are properly restrained in car seats, booster seats and seat belts that are appropriate for their age and size, according to Michigan State Police. Michigan has seen more parents using child restraint devices (CRDs), such as car seats and booster seats, from the late 1990s to 2018. However, over half of small children killed in car crashes in the state from 2017 to 2021 were not restrained in a CRD.
The Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning said in a 2022 report, per the Lansing State Journal , "Over the prior two decades, Michigan has experienced increases in the use of CRDs among children under 4 years of age from 74.5% in 1997 to 98.2% in 2018.
" "In spite of these gains, 61% of the children under the age of 4 who were killed in traffic crashes in Michigan from 2017 to 2021 were not restrained in a rear- or forward-facing CRD." Parents who fail to follow the new laws face a fine that starts at $65. The fine includes a $25 civil fine and court costs and a $40 justice system assessment, according to the law firm Goodman Acker which looked at Michigan's current seatbelt laws for their estimate.
Michigan law also requires children under the age of 4 to use a car seat in the rear of the car, if the car has rear seats. If a car's rear seats are already being used by children under the age of 4, then a 4-year-old can sit in a car seat in the front passenger seat. A child in a rear-facing car seat can only sit in the front seat if the airbag is turned off.
Meanwhile, drivers and front-seat passengers, regardless of age, must wear a seat belt and children aged 8 to 15 must wear a seat belt regardless of where they sit in the car. Drivers across the United States are having to adjust to a slew of new road rules that take effect in 2025. Some of those include: Daylighting law prohibiting drivers from parking their cars within 20 feet of any crosswalk in California Stricter street racing penalties in California Changes to car seat age and weight requirements in Colorado Fines for failing to follow designated enter and exit areas for express lanes in Colorado Bans on handheld devices while driving in Colorado and Missouri Drivers allowed to have a digital copy of their license on their cell phones in Illinois Yield right of way to emergency vehicles in Illinois Drivers required to take a vision test to renew licenses in Kentucky School bus safety law in Oregon Vehicle safety inspections scrapped in Texas 'A HUGE RELIEF' One grateful mom talked to local ABC affiliate WXYZ about how her son's car seat kept him safe in a head-on collision.
Emily Catania said she, her husband and her then-one-year-old got into a brutal crash going 65mph. “I may have walked away with, you know, a broken rib and lots of bruises, but my kid was completely fine and up and laughing, and wanting to know why mommy was crying," she recalled. The mom continued: "It was definitely a huge relief for me.
" Read More on The US Sun Catania had gotten her friend, Andrea Peardon, who is a certified child passenger safety technician, to check her son's car seat shortly before the accident. “I knew in that moment that I’ve done everything I’m supposed to, because I had that car seat installed properly," the mom said..
