Being a parent comes with numerous responsibilities; the first and major one is to keep your little ones safe.
The biggest threat to their wellbeing, according to statistics, seems to be car crashes.
Yet, as Safe Kids, New Hampshire states, 90% of unintentional injuries are, in fact, preventable.
How?
Well, securing your kid in a federally-approved restraint system, appropriate for their age and size, is provenly the safest way to protect your child in traffic.
But, to do so, you need to learn the official car seat laws of each state.
This is most definitely not an effortless task, especially when you get caught in the chaos of the fast-rolling bundle of duties.
But hear me out here!
Today, we have prepared an on-point overview of the New Hampshire Car Seat Laws that won’t keep you busy for more than fifteen minutes to get familiar with.
Additionally, we listed some excellent tips and guides that will help you protect your child in any circumstances.
Dive in!
New Hampshire Child Passenger Safety Law
According to section RSA 265:107-a of the New Hampshire Law, all children passengers in a car younger than seven, or less than fifty-seven inches tall, must be secured using an approved restraint system.
In addition, all children younger than eighteen must be secured with a safety belt.
1. New Hampshire Rear-Facing Restraint System Law
As the New Hampshire Law demands the approved restraint system for kids, you should follow the official recommendations and use a rear-facing car seat until your kid can no longer fit it.
Suggestions are to keep your child rear-facing until at least two since this restraint system is the safest.
2. New Hampshire Forward-facing Restraint System Law
You should switch to the front-facing seat only when your little one officially exceeds the rear-facing system’s size limits.
This mostly happens around the age of two, but the official recommendations are to postpone it until the age of four, if possible.
Now, keep your child in this harness seat until the age of six or seven, or until he/she outgrows it.
To be sure your little one is ready to move from a booster seat to seat belt, do this booster seat quiz and find out!
3. New Hampshire Booster Seat Law
When your child can no longer fit the forward-facing restraint system, it’s time for the booster seat.
This transition happens around the age of six or seven.
Keep your little cub in this seat until he/she is at least 4 ft. 9 in tall.
4. New Hampshire Seat Belt Law
The official New Hampshire Seat Belt Law requires all children from the age of seven and height at least 4ft. 9in to the age of eighteen to wear a safety belt in a car.
However, this law does not oblige drivers older than eighteen to wear a seat belt.
This law has caused many debates throughout the country since people predominantly consider that safety belts play a crucial role in preventing serious injuries.
New Hampshire is the only US state that does not have a primary or secondary seat belt law for adult drivers.
The Penalties
For the first offense, drivers will be charged $50, while every subsequent offense comes with a $100 charge.
The Exceptions
The provision does not apply to buses and taxis, vehicles produced before 1968, and cases when children cannot be adequately secured because of a particular physical condition.
Also, in specific cases of special education, the New Hampshire cars eat law does not apply.
Read more —
Installations
The first step in the task of maximizing your children’s safety in traffic is education.
Get involved in seminars and courses that can help you learn more and get familiar with the most effective ways to restrain your child in a vehicle.
Here is one useful video that can familiarize you with the basics and provide information on the various child passenger restraint systems’ proper installment.
For more detailed installment videos, check out the NHTSA page.
Fitting Stations
Inspection stations are friendly sites where you can drive your car to have your child restraint systems checked by a CPS technician.
This is a highly important step because the statistics have shown that more than 70% of child restraint systems are not correctly installed.
Here is the list of inspection stations in New Hampshire by County, and here is the calendar of events you can visit to learn more about child passenger safety and have your car seat inspected.
To find other CPS technicians near you, you can use:
Register Your Car Seat
Finally, never forget the final step in the process of protecting your kid in traffic.
Make sure you register your car seat to keep up with all the manufacturer’s updates, changes, or recalls.
Additional Information
In case you didn't know, there are countless CPS technician courses organized throughout the US.
Anyone willing to learn and armed with determination can get through these courses and become a certified CPS technician.
The New Hampshire CPS Program has quite a few courses for parents, so that you can learn more about them here.
You can furthermore find additional information about available courses on this link.
However, before you apply, check out this excellent article we wrote about everything you should know about CPS technicians and how to become one.
Did You Know?
Did you know that the safest way to accommodate your child in an airplane is in a car seat, not your lap?
Well, many survivable plane crashes have proved that parents are not able to maintain a safe grip of their kids even during the oscillations.
More about this issue you can read in this comprehensive article.
Additionally, learn what the thriftiest way to transport a car seat to the airplane is.
Did you know that there are programs providing free car seats to families in need? Yes, it is true!
Child passenger safety has attracted national attention and motivated organizations to start programs aimed to help families that cannot afford car seats.
Read our article to check out the list of ways to obtain free car seats in the US.
Final Thoughts
Once the statistics have shown that 90% of injuries that occur during car crashes are preventable, people became interested in ways to protect children in traffic since they are the most vulnerable and injury-prone passengers.
Knowing the car seat laws in every state is one way you can ensure that your little one is safe and sound every time you drive.
In this article, we provided a concise overview of New Hampshire car seat laws, and we wish it to find its way to all parents living or staying in New Hampshire.
Buckle up, and take your child’s safety seriously!
