West Virginia’s child safety seat laws aren’t extremely complex, but everyone driving through this mountainous state with children must know them by heart. All children under the age of eight and under four feet and nine inches must be secured in an appropriate safety restraint in the car’s rear seats. Appropriate seats are listed below.
If you’re a parent in the great state of West Virginia, you should definitely read this short article, most recently updated for 2019. Below, we’ll go over the basics of West Virginia’s child safety seat laws and provide you with a few useful online resources you can use to keep your child secure in the Mountain State.
- All children under the age of eight and under four feet and nine inches must be secured in an appropriate safety restraint in the car’s rear seats.
- Any child above four feet nine inches tall can legally wear a car’s safety belt, even if that child is below the age of eight.
- Although West Virginia law doesn’t specify, safety officials recommend using rear-facing restraints for infants, forward-facing restraints for toddlers, and booster seats for older children.
- Parents who fail to properly secure their children in an appropriate safety restraint can face a fine of anywhere between $10 and $20 for a first offense.
- Children should remain properly secured in the car’s rear seats until at least the age of 13.
Additional resources:
West Virginia’s government is committed to helping new parents install their children’s safety seats properly. That’s why West Virginia’s Governor’s Highway Safety Program (GHSP) created the Child Passenger Safety Program (CPS). The CPS is federally funded and provides assistance and training to West Virginian parents.
- Safest Rear-Facing Car Seats
- Child Passenger Safety Program
- Find the Highway Safety Program Region closest to your home.
- You can also find the closest CPS Seat Fitting Station by clicking on this link.
- To read West Virginia’s law in full, take a peek at this webpage.
- Finally, if you have any questions about West Virginia’s child safety laws, please call CPS at (304) 926-2509 or email GHSP at dmvghsp@wv.gov.