It is obviously important to the safety of our children to understand New Jersey’s laws regarding children and seat belts. Understanding the law is also important to protect the rights of the driver to protect their rights to be free from unreasonable motor vehicle stops by the police.
New Jersey’s Department of Law and Public Safety’ s website, http://www.nj.gov/oag/hts/seatbelts.html , lists the National Highway Traffic Safety’s child seat belt recommendations. However, not all of those recommendations are adopted as law in New Jersey. The controlling law in New Jersey is codified in N.J.S.A. 39:3-76.2a.
The law in New Jersey requires that children remain in rear-facing child seats until they reach either two years old or 30 pounds. Once a child turns eight or reaches four foot nine inches tall, s/he has the option of riding in a booster seat approved for their size or, they can ride with a standard seat belt (in the front or back seat). The details of the NHTSA’s recommendations and the New Jersey child seat belt statute are as follows.
The following recommendations will provide the safest way to transport your child according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Additionally it will ensure compliance to the New Jersey Child Passenger Restraint Law (Title 39:3-76.2a)
Any child under the age of 8 years old and a height of 57 inches shall be secured as follows in the rear seat of a motor vehicle:
a. A child under the age of 2 years and 30 pounds shall be secured in a rear-facing seat equipped with a 5-point harness.
b. A child under the age of 4 years and 40 pounds shall be secured as described in (a) until they reach the upper limits of the rear-facing seat, then in a forward-facing child restraint equipped with a 5-point harness.
c. A child under the age of 8 and a height of 57 inches shall be secured as described in (a) or (b) until they reach the upper limits of the rear-facing or forward facing seat, then in a belt positioning booster seat.
d. A child over 8 years of age or 57 inches in height must be properly secured by a seat belt.
If there are no rear seats, the child shall be secured as described above in the front seat except that no child shall be secured in a rear-facing seat in the front seat of any vehicle that is equipped with an active passenger-side airbag. The aforementioned is acceptable if the airbag is de-activated.
NJSA 39:3-76.2a Child passenger restraint systems. (2016)
1. Every person operating a motor vehicle, other than a school bus, equipped with safety belts or a Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children system (LATCH) who is transporting a child on roadways, streets or highways of this State, shall secure the child in a child passenger restraint system or booster seat, as described in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 213, in a rear seat as follows:
a. A child under the age of two years and weighing less than 30 pounds shall be secured in a rear facing child passenger restraint system, which is equipped with a five-point harness.
b. A child under the age of four years and weighing less than 40 pounds shall be secured:
(1) in a rear facing child passenger restraint system, which is equipped with a five-point harness, until the child outgrows the top height or top weight recommendations made by the manufacturer of the child passenger restraint system, at which point the child shall be secured in a rear seat, in a forward facing child passenger restraint system which is equipped with a five-point harness; or
(2) in a forward facing child passenger restraint system which is equipped with a five-point harness.
c. A child under the age of eight years and less than 57 inches in height shall be secured:
(1) in a forward facing child passenger restraint system which is equipped with a five-point harness, until the child outgrows the top height or top weight recommendations made by the manufacturer of the child passenger restraint system, at which point the child shall be secured in a rear seat, in a booster seat; or
(2) in a booster seat.
d. If there are no rear seats, the child shall be secured in a child passenger restraint system or booster seat in a front seat of a motor vehicle except that no child shall be secured in a rear facing child passenger restraint system in a front seat of any motor vehicle which is equipped with a passenger-side airbag that is not disabled or turned off.
e. In no event shall failure to be secured in a child passenger restraint system or booster seat be considered as contributory negligence, nor shall the failure to be secured in the child passenger restraint system or booster seat be admissible as evidence in the trial of any civil action.
