Nevada Booster Seat Laws

According to CDC estimates, seat belt use and bucking children into age and size-appropriate car seats and booster seats can reduce the risk of severe injury and fatality by at least half. The Nevada State Legislature has enacted car seat laws to enhance the safety of child passengers.

For instance, any child under 6 years and 57 inches must ride in an approved child-restraint system. More importantly, children under 2 years must sit in a rear-facing safety seat at the back of a vehicle.

The term child-restraint system consists of booster seats, seat belts (safety belts), and car seats. 

Unfortunately, even with the proper booster seat, your child can still suffer injuries in a crash. If this happens, consult with an experienced Reno car accident attorney about your rights to compensation today.

Nevada Booster Seat Laws

The National Highway Transport and Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends that children remain in rear-facing seats for as long as possible. Once a child outgrows a rear-facing seat manufacturer’s weight and height limits, the parents can switch them to front-facing seats.

Nevada’s child seat laws require all children younger than 6 or less than 60 pounds to be buckled into car or booster seats.

Booster Seat Requirements in Nevada

• The booster seat should be appropriate to the child’s size and weight
• A child may use a booster seat until 8 years old and until they attain an appropriate height to fit in a safety belt
• A child may move to a booster seat if they exceed the manufacturer’s height and weight requirements for a car seat

A child is ready to move on from a booster seat after fulfilling the following three requirements:

• The child’s knees should bend at the end of the seat when their bottoms and backs are touching the vehicle’s back seat
• The lap seat belts fit comfortably across bony hips and or upper thighs (not soft stomach) 
• The shoulder belt fits across the chest and the bony shoulder— not across the neck or 

soft face

Nevada car seat laws permit children to use adult safety belts if they are 6 years and 57 inches or taller.

Violations of Booster Seat Laws

Violations of booster seat laws can result in fines of between $100 and $500 or 10 to 50 hours of community service. However, there are some defenses:

• You had a doctor’s note with details of the child’s medical condition that exempts them from riding without a child-restraint system
• The police were wrong in arresting you
• The child is too old or too tall to use a child-restraint system. An attorney can rely on the child’s medical records or birth certificate to validate the argument.

Get in Touch With an Experience Car Accident Attorney

Even if you are in full compliance with booster seat laws, another negligent driver can injure your child, and they should be liable. An experienced car accident lawyer from Kidwell & Gallagher Injury Lawyers can aggressively fight to protect your rights. Contact us online or at (775) 323-2667 to schedule a free consultation.

Craig Kidwell

Craig W. Kidwell is the managing partner of Kidwell & Gallagher, Ltd., and exclusively represents injured workers in Nevada. Mr. Kidwell has been practicing workers’ compensation law in Nevada since 1999 and has acted as lead counsel on over 2,000 contested workers’ compensation claims. Mr. Kidwell represents injured workers in Nevada through all stages of Nevada’s complex worker’s compensation system. Craig regularly appears in all levels of Nevada’s administrative workers’ compensation system and has represented injured workers in Nevada’s districts and Supreme Court.

• With more than 21 years of experience in complex litigation cases in Nevada.
• In 2018, the State Bar of Nevada selected Mr. Kidwell as one of the five co-founding board members.
• Mr. Kidwell has lobbied and testified before the Nevada Legislature on behalf of the Nevada Justice.