Children's safety and comfort should be the primary obligation all the parents should strive to accomplish while on roads.
Children's safety systems and laws prove to be the best solutions for preventing car accidents and injuries and preventing children from death.
Colorado also helps these aims; therefore, their government's systems and safety laws require car seats to reduce injuries and accidents from 71% up to 82% annually.
When you see the numbers, you know it's important to respect authority and laws.
Hence, let's see what the child safety Colorado car seat laws are.
Colorado Safety Car Seats Laws
According to Colorado Safety Laws, all children who are younger than 16 years, must use seat belts, and any other equipment required to protect children according to various ages.
The safety law refers to all children, no matter where they sit in the cars. They have to use the rear, forward, or booster seats if they're not adults.
Unless they're adults, they must sit in the car seats.
Otherwise, they can use only seat belts if they sit in the front seat.
Therefore, the children under the age of 8 need to sit in the seats.
1. How to Choose the Right Car Seats Correctly?
If you're a Colorado citizen, (and a parent), you probably know that you can place your children in any car seat.
As a parent or a caregiver, you should know that car seats must fit your little ones' age, weight, development, and growth.
Selecting the wrong and unmatchable places cannot help you prevent the risk of car injuries and accidents.
Often, the consequences can be fatal.
I'm sure that you, as a parent/caregiver/future parent, will do your best and try to avoid this.
For that reason, the state of Colorado indicates many seats that fit all children and their ages.
So, let's see what the safety law says!
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2. Safety Law for Infants/Toddlers
As the safety Colorado law shows, if your children are younger than one year old, and their weight is less than twenty pounds, you should obtain the rear-facing car seats since they are the best protection from car crashes and accidents.
Moreover, the children should sit in the back seat of your vehicle, not in the front.
3. Safety Law for One to Four-year-old Children
If your kiddo is between one and four years old and weighs between twenty and forty pounds, you should get the forward-facing car seats.
Now, why is this vital?
Simply because these car seats provide excellent protection security, and will help parents avoid and prevent car accidents and possible injuries.
They will keep their children safe and can set off even longer journeys.
4. Safety Law for Four to Eight-year-old Kids
As you can find in the Colorado law, kiddos who weigh a minimum of forty pounds are obliged to sit in booster car seats.
Of course, these kids should be tall enough to meet and fulfill all the booster seats' conditions and requirements.
The safety law also implies that children should stay in booster seats until they are at least eight years old and minimum four feet nine inches tall, or 144,78 centimeters.
5. Safety Law for Eight to Fifteen-year-olds
If your dearest ones are between eight and fifteen years old, they do not necessarily have to use car seats.
However, what they need to use are the proper seat belts.
As you probably observe, all children who find themselves in the motor vehicles should use seat belts, but it is only legally compulsory for those younger than sixteen to use seat belts while in the back seat.
However, if you want to be 100% certain that nothing wrong will happen to your little ones, you should teach them to use the back seat belts all the time!
What Are the Car Seat Exceptions?
There are some extreme cases when children do not have to use car seats.
For instance, if the driver is transporting a child during a life-threatening emergency where no children-restraint system is required, if the child care center transports the children, when the common carriers, limousine service drivers, or contract carries transport the children.
On the other hand, the law controls these situations, which means that the police can pull the drivers out of the vehicles if they abolish the law.
Furthermore, they will have to pay up to $71 for violating the safety law.
When Can I Place My Child in the Front Seat in Colorado?
As the law implies, the children who are one year old, or even older, and weigh more than twenty pounds, so that they physically fulfill all the necessary requirements and conditions, can sit in the front seats of your motor vehicles.
Most importantly - this is highly unacceptable!
Parents who follow the law will find that they should use child restraint systems until their children are fifteen and more years old.
Parents, please contact the manufacturers to select the right system for your kiddos.
After fifteen or more, they can only use the seat belt system and sit in the front seats without any issues.
May I Leave My Kid Alone in the Car?
You are not abolishing the law if you let your children alone in your motor vehicles.
However, this is also not recommendable.
The research shows that from 1998, the seven kids died alone in the cars for multiple reasons.
Therefore, law officials require you not to leave your babies alone.
Can/Can't I Smoke in the Car With Children?
You can freely smoke in your motor vehicles, even if your children are in there.
However, there are certain exceptions to this decision, and they are the following: namely, if the vehicle serves for children care and transportation, and limousines.
Taxis and Car Seat Laws in Colorado
If you plan to travel to Colorado, you should know that taxis do not have to obey the law.
They don't have to use car seats; therefore, many will find them unsafe for the long ride.
What can parents do to keep their children safe?
You can contact a rent-a-car company for yourself, and require a car seat according to your children's needs.
The same goes for the Colorado residents, to those who are unavailable to use their cars.
Where Can We Replace the Damaged Seats?
If by any chance, you have a motor vehicle accident, the safety law allows you to contact the manufacturers, and they will respond to your demands.
Colorado Injury Lawyer
If something goes wrong, and you have a car crash or any other accident, you can contact (303)-835-3085 or (800)-ROSEN-911, and search for Daniel Rosen in Denver, for a free consultation to solve your problems.
Conclusion
As parents, you should choose the seats that fit your children's height, weight, and age.
Therefore, you should read the instructions on how to use them properly, and make sure your children use them until they're old enough and don't need them anymore.
Please, don't buy the second-hand seats since you don't know what might be wrong with them and if they're going to protect your kiddos fully.
Contact safety instructors and technicians to help you and watch various videos to install them conveniently.
I hope the article helped you! Let me know!
