Booster Seats

Oregon Child Occupant Protection Law

Child Restraints

  • Child passengers must be restrained in an approved child safety seat until they weigh 40 pounds.
  • Infants must ride rear facing until they reach two years of age.

Booster Seats

  • Children over 40 pounds and who have reached the upper weight limit of their car seat's harness system, must use a booster seat until they are 4'9" tall and age 8.

Safety Belts

  • A child taller than 4’9” and age 8 or older must be properly secured with the vehicle’s safety belt.
  • The child is properly secured if the lap belt is positioned low across the thighs and the shoulder belt is positioned over the collarbone and away from the neck.

The failure to properly use safety belts or child restraints is a Class D traffic violation with a $110.00 fine - ORS 811.210 and ORS 815.055; effective January 1, 2012.

Leyes de Oregon para la Protecciónde los Niños como Pasajeros de Vehículos

Asientos de Seguridad para Niños

  • Los pasajeros menores de edad deben sentarse en asientos de seguridad aprobados para niños hasta que pesen 40 libras o alcancen el peso límite máximo según el asiento que esté en uso en el vehículo.
  • Los infantes deben viajar mirando hacia atrás hasta 2 años de edad Y pesen 20 libras (la ley de Oregon) o más tiempo si el asiento de uso permite un límite de peso más alto (la “mejor práctica”).

Asientos de Refuerzo:

  • Los niños cuyo peso sea mayor a 40 libras O que hayan alcanzado la altura máxima límite del sistema de seguridad de su asiento en el vehículo, deben utilizar un asiento de refuerzo hasta que tengan 4’9” de altura O cumplan 8 años.

Cinturones de Seguridad:

  • Un niño cuya altura es mayor a 4’9” O que haya cumplido los 8 años, debe viajar con el cinturón de seguridad del vehículo colocado de forma correcta.
  • El niño tendrá el cinturón de seguridad colocado de forma correcta si la correa que cruza sobre las piernas está ubicada debajo de las caderas y la correa del hombro se encuentra sobre la clavícula y lejos del cuello.

El incumplimiento al uso adecuado del cinturón de seguridad o de los asientos de seguridad para niños corresponde a una violación de tráfico de Clase D y tiene una multa de $110.00. (ORS 811.210 y ORS 815.055, en vigencia a partir del 1ro de enero de 2012.)

When Is It Safe For My Child To Ride Without A Booster?

Experts agree and the evidence is conclusive that children are moving to safety belts too soon. Surveys conducted by NHTSA and research published by Partners for Child Passenger Safety, conclude that children between the ages of 4 and 8 years are riding at risk. "Children are at unnecessary risk of being injured in crashes because they are either in the wrong restraint for their size or worse, totally unrestrained," according to former NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey W. Runge, MD.

  • 48% of children between the ages of 4 and 8 killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2001 were unrestrained.
  • Using a belt positioning booster (BPB) with a safety belt instead of a safety belt alone reduces a child¹s risk of injury by 59%.
  • Children placed in poorly fitting adult safety belts can suffer serious life-threatening injuries or risk being ejected from a vehicle in a crash.

Head and Face Injuries Most Common

  • 71% of serious injuries to 4 to 8 year olds are to the head or face.
  • Children in seat belts are 4 times more likely to suffer head/brain injury as compared to children who use a child safety seat (CSS) or BPB.
  • The brain is the organ least likely to recover from injury.

Seat Belt Syndrome Is Also a Problem

Seat Belt Syndrome is a pattern of intra-abdominal and spinal injuries as well as lower extremity injuries. When children are prematurely transitioned into adult safety belts, the lap portion of the belt rides up over the soft abdomen and the shoulder portion crosses the neck or face, causing many children to place the shoulder belt behind them or under their arm. Studies have found that beginning at age 3 there was a sudden drop in appropriate restraint use. By age 6 few children remained in child restraints or booster seats. Children from ages 4 to 8 who were not riding in BPB's were more than three times as likely to sustain an abdominal injury as a child riding in a BPB.

Best Practice Recommendation:

Children riding in a forward-facing seat with a harness should remain in that seat until they reach the upper height and weight limits before graduating to a booster seat. For children who are not at least age 5, but weigh over 40 pounds, an alternative to a booster seat may provide the best protection.

Your child is ready to ride in a safety belt when the answer to all of these questions is YES:

  1. Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?
  2. Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?
  3. Does the belt cross the collarbone between the neck and arm?
  4. Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the hips and thighs?
  5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?

A “No” answer means the child should continue riding in a booster seat for best protection.

Adapted from Partners for Child Passenger Safety and Safety Belt Safe USA.

¿Cuándo estará listo mi hijo para viajar con cinturón de seguridad?

  1. ¿La talla del niño es lo suficientemente alta como para sentarse con su espalda apoyada en el respaldar del asiento del vehículo?
  2. ¿Las rodillas del niño se doblan con comodidad en el borde del asiento del vehículo?
  3. ¿El cinturón de seguridad que pasa por el hombro cruza por encima de la clavícula?
  4. ¿La correa de las piernas se encuentra tocando las caderas?
  5. ¿Puede el niño permanecer sentado de esta forma durante todo el viaje?

Si alguna de las respuestas es “No” significa que el niño debe continuar viajando con un asiento de refuerzo para su mayor protecció.

More information on booster seats is available on these web sites:
SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A.– Safe Ride Helpline Online
National SAFE KIDS Campaign
Washington State Booster Seat Coalition
Harness or Booster - When to Make the Switch