BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Stricter car seat laws in Louisiana are set to take effect Aug. 1 and are aimed at making sure children fit in seats properly.
The Advocate reports the changes will keep babies and toddlers in rear-facing car seats for longer and require children to ride in vehicles’ back seats until they’re teenagers.
The law requires children under 2 years old to ride in rear-facing car seats, while children 2 to 4 must ride in forward-facing seats with an internal seat belt. Children 4 to 9 must ride in booster seats. Children 9 to 12 can ride without booster seats based on height requirements that show they fit into the car’s seat properly.
Unlike the prior law, the new one considers height and weight limits of car seats as well as fit.