Safety Seats

Child Passenger Restraint Law
(MN Stat 169.685)

• Children under four must be secured in a safety seat that meets federal safety standards
  
• Safety seats must be installed and used according to the manufacturer's instructions
  
• Child must be secured in the safety seat
  
• Seat must be secured to the vehicle
  
• Infants (under 20 pounds and one year of age) must be in a rear-facing safety seat
  
• Law applies to all motor vehicles originally equipped with factory-installed seat belts
  
• Law applies to all seating positions
  
• Driver is responsible
  
• Petty misdemeanor fine for violation is $50 (may be waived if violator shows proof of obtaining a safety seat within 14 days)
  
• Applies to both residents and non-residents of Minnesota
  
• Suspected non-use is a valid basis to stop a motor vehicle

Exceptions:

• Children riding in emergency medical vehicles, when medical needs make use of a restraint unreasonable
  
• Children riding in a motor vehicle for hire, including a taxi, airport limousine or bus, but excluding a rented, leased or borrowed motor vehicle
  
• Children riding with a peace officer on official duty, when a restraint is not available (a seat belt must be substituted)
  
• Children certified by a licensed physician as having a medical, physical or mental disability that makes restraint use inadvisable

Passengers in school buses

• This law is a minimum safety standard and does not reflect best practices for properly securing children within vehicles.
• For children under 80 pounds to properly be secured in a vehicle, they should sit in an appropriate child safety seat (or booster seat). In addition, children under the age of 13 should sit in the rear of a vehicle.

For more information concerning the importance of booster seats and upgraded child passenger restraint laws, click here. For more detailed information regarding child passenger safety in general, please visit the "CPS Program" section of this website.

Fines collected from violations of this law go into a special account dedicated to purchasing child safety seats for lower income families. Violations of this law are recorded onto a violator's driving record.

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