CPS Laws
Oregon's Child Passenger Safety Law Changed
Oregon law assists drivers in the decision of how to properly restrain and protect children in motor vehicles. When children are properly restrained it significantly decreases the severity of injuries and number of fatalities that occur in a crash. The recent amendments to Oregon¹s law now reflect national best practice.
Changes to the law include:
- Infants must ride rear facing until they are one year old and twenty pounds. Before children can ride forward facing, they must meet both of these benchmarks.
- Once a child has reached a minimum of forty pounds they must be properly secured in a booster seat until they are eight years old or are taller than four feet nine inches.
- After a child is age eight or older, or they are at least four feet nine inches they must be secured properly with the safety belt system.
The law continues to require:
Children over one year old and between twenty and forty pounds must be properly secured with a forward facing child restraint up to a minimum of forty pounds or the upper weight limit of the seat.
The changes to the law amend ORS 811.210 and 811.215. These reformations to the law were created with the safety of Oregon's children as a priority. Questions can
be directed to ACTS Oregon¹s Child Safety Seat Resource Center: 503-643-5620,
800-772-1315.
Effective January 1, 2004 Senate Bill 182 exempts a child from the booster seat requirement when the rear seat of the vehicle he or she is riding in is equipped only with lap belts, provided the child is secured by the lap belt.
The offense described in this section, failure to properly use safety belts or child restraints, is a Class D traffic violation resulting in a $97.00 fine.
ORS 811.205
Pick Up Truck Restrictions
Effective November 2003, House Bill 2338 amended ORS 811.205 to prohibit children under 18 years of age from riding in the open bed of a pick up truck. This offense is a
Class B traffic violation resulting in a $242.00 fine.
Idaho's Child Restraint Law
Idaho's Child Passenger Safety Law will require that all children 6 years of age or younger be properly restrained in an appropriate child safety restraint. This is a primary law and the fine is $60.00. This law replaces the language of the old law concerning weight and age requirements of children being transported in a motor vehicle. This law went into effect July 1, 2005.
An appropriate child restraint is a child safety seat for children up to 40 lbs and a belt positioning booster seat for children 6 years or younger. Lap-belt only seating positions should not be used with a booster seat.
Washington's Child Restraint Law
The Washington legislature also updated their child passenger safety law with House Bill 1475. This is a primary law and the fine is $101. This law went into effect June 1, 2007.
The law has three provisions:
1. Requires children to use a child safety seat or booster seat up until age eight unless they are four foot nine inches tall.
2. Requires children under 13 to be seated in the back seat when practical to do so.
3. Provides liability protection for Child Passenger Safety (CPS) technicians.
