More About Colorado Car Seat Laws and the Colorado Child Passenger Safety Act

Children must be restrained in boosters or other appropriate child car seats until they reach the age of 8 years old. Parents searching for an appropriate child safety seat to meet the requirements in Colorado need to make sure the car seat matches the child’s weight, height and age:

Birth – 1 year old and less than 20 lbs: Rear-facing seat, in the back seat only (no exceptions). While this is the law in Co, most experts recommend keeping your child in a rear-facing seat until 2 years old.
You should never place a rear-facing child seat in the front seat of a vehicle with an active airbag; this includes single-cab pickup trucks.
1 – 3 years old and at least 20 lbs: Forward-facing seat in the back seat of the vehicle.
Your child should remain in the forward-facing seat only until they reach the upper weight limit set by the car seat manufacturer..
4 – 7 years old and under 4’9″ tall”: Booster seat.
8 – 12 years old and at least 4’9″ tall”: Standard vehicle safety belt.
While CO law allows children to use a standard seat belt at 8 years old, it is recommended that you wait until your child is at least 4’9” before transitioning to a seat belt, so as to avoid injury in case of an accident.

All child passenger safety violations are enforced as primary traffic safety laws. In other words, an officer could pull you over just for breaking a child-safety law. You face a minimum $82 fine.

Contact the Child Passenger Safety organization (CPS) to ask any questions regarding child car seat requirements or find a location that can check the safety of your child safety seat.

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