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New Year, New Child-Seat Law

Miki Yoshihito
/
Flickr CC
Credit Miki Yoshihito / Flickr CC
/
Flickr CC

Florida’s new child seat law goes into effect Thursday, Jan. 1.

In 2014, the Palm Beach Post called Florida’s old child-seat law “the most lax car seat law in the nation.” Under those rules, children were allowed to stop sitting in car seats as soon as they turned 4.

Under the new law, children must be in a car seat until they turn 6. Parents and immediate family members could be fined $60 and get three points on their licenses for failing to comply.

The law makes a few exceptions including medical emergencies and medical conditions that could be affected by a booster seat. If a family friend is transporting a 4- or 5-year-old as a favor, those children are also allowed to ride without a booster seat but must use a seat belt.

Florida visitors will want to bring their own booster or baby seats. There is no rental car exemption and the law states that parents or guardians are responsible for providing the proper seats while their traveling in taxis or chauffeured vehicles.

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Kenny Malone hails from Meadville, PA where the zipper was invented, where Clark Gable’s mother is buried and where, in 2007, a wrecking ball broke free from a construction site, rolled down North Main Street and somehow wound up inside the trunk of a Ford Taurus sitting at a red light.