SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) is encouraging all parents and caregivers to ensure their children are riding safely by using the correct car seats, booster seats, and properly fitted seat belts. This initiative coincides with Child Passenger Safety Week, an annual campaign taking place from September 21-27, aimed at raising awareness about the importance of car seat safety and proper installation.
Traffic Bureau Sergeant Ishii emphasized the serious nature of child passenger protection. Sergeant Ishii stated that "When it comes to protecting our youngest passengers, there is no room for guesswork," highlighting the critical need to choose the right car seat and ensure its correct installation.
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a significant number of car seats, nearly half or 46%, are misused. However, the data also shows the profound impact of proper installation: correctly installed car seats have been shown to reduce fatal injury crashes by 71% for infants under one year old and by 54% for toddlers aged one through four.
Current California law sets specific requirements for child passenger safety. All children under two years old are required to ride in a rear-facing car seat, unless the child weighs 40 or more pounds or is 40 or more inches tall. Once these milestones are reached, all children under the age of eight years old must still be secured in a car seat or booster seat in the back seat. Children who are eight years or older, or who are at least 4 feet 9 inches tall, may be secured by a booster seat, but must at minimum be secured by a safety belt.
Looking ahead, a new state law, AB 435, is set to take effect on January 1, 2027. This law will require children ages eight to sixteen years old to pass all steps of the “Five-Step Test” before they can safely use a standard seat belt without a booster seat. Parents and caregivers are encouraged by the OCSD to keep children in the proper rear or forward-facing seat for as long as possible. They are also advised to use the Five-Step Test as a guide now, before it becomes law in 2027, to help determine if their child is large enough to safely use a seat belt without a booster seat.
For residents seeking more information about the County of Orange car seat program, the OC Health Care Agency can be contacted directly. Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
