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Assemblywoman Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City) wants to raise the minimum age for youths to sit in the front seat of a car to age 13.
Without addressing actual enforcement issues of the bill, ultimately, AB 435 requires all children younger than 10 years old, and those under 13, and shorter than 4 feet 9 inches, to sit on a booster seat.
If approved and signed by the governor, beginning in January 2027, it would do the following:
This bill would instead would, commencing January 1, 2027, require a parent, legal guardian, or driver who transports a child under between 10 to 13 years of age on a highway in a motor vehicle to properly secure that child in a rear seat in an appropriate child passenger restraint system, except if the a child or ward is under between 10 to 13 years of age and meets all may be acceptably restrained by a safety belt by meeting the requirements of the 5-Step test, which requires that the child or ward may be restrained by a safety belt rather than by a child passenger restraint system. The bill would require the 5-Step test to include that the child or ward is sitting all the way back against the auto seat, the knees of the child or ward bend comfortably at over the edge of the auto seat, the belt cross the child or ward’s shoulder between the neck and arm, the shoulder belt snugly crosses the center of the child’s chest and shoulder, not the child’s neck, the lap belt is as low as possible and are is touching the child or ward’s thighs, and the child or ward can stay seated like this for the whole trip.
This bill would, commencing January 1, 2027, require a parent, legal guardian, or driver who transports a child under 10 years of age on a highway in a motor vehicle to properly secure that child in a rear seat in an appropriate child passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards, except as specified. The bill would prohibit a parent, legal guardian, or driver from transporting on a highway in the front seat of a motor vehicle a child between 13 to 16 years of age, unless they are acceptably restrained by a safety belt by meeting the requirements of the 5-Step test.
The bill passed the Assembly Transportation Committee on March 24 in a 12-0 vote. The bill was first introduced on February 6, 2025.
Here is a look at the full car seat bill: Click here
