California Vehicle Code

• Child passenger restraint requirements, including when children may ride in the front seat of a vehicle, are set out in §27360 of the California Vehicle Code. Children who are under the age of 6, or who weigh less than 60 lbs., must ride in a rear seat. The law requires that children be properly secured in child passenger restraint systems --- that is, car seats or belt-positioning booster seats --- that meet federal motor vehicle safety standards for height and weight. This law applies to parents, guardians and other drivers when the child's parent or guardian is not present in the vehicle.
  
  

Exceptions

• There are exceptions to the general rule. Under certain circumstances, a child who is under the age of 6 or under 60 lbs. may ride in the front passenger seat. Such a seating arrangement is acceptable when there is no rear seat, the rear seats are rear-facing or side-facing jump seats, the child passenger restraint system could not be properly installed in the rear seat, all rear seats are already occupied by children under the age of 12 years or medical reasons necessitate that the child ride in the front. Children must still be properly secured in appropriate car or booster seats, though.
  
  

Front Passenger Air Bags

• Front passenger air bags present a danger to children. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, by January 2008, the vast majority of all passenger frontal air bag-fatalities were children: 180 as compared with 13 adult deaths. Consequently, in California, a child may not ride in the front seat of a motor vehicle that has an active passenger side airbag if the child is under 1 year of age, weighs less than 20 lbs. or is riding in a rear-facing car seat.
  
  

Penalties

• A first offense is punishable by a $100 fine. The penalty for a second or subsequent violation is a $250 fine. The court may reduce or waive the fine if the defendant satisfactorily establishes that she is economically disadvantaged and the court, instead, refers the defendant to a community education program that includes instruction on the proper installation and use of child passenger restraint systems for children of all ages. Each violation is one point on a driver's record. As few as four points can result in a suspension of one's driving privileges.