• Alabama law allows seat belt use at age 6.sicherheitsgurt image by fuxart from Fotolia.com
  
  As of May 2010, Alabama's child restraint law stopped short of the child passenger safety recommendations made by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH). While the law requires motorists to use child restraint devices through age five, ADPH urges parents and other caregivers to keep children in child restraint devices (commonly called booster seats) significantly longer.
  
  

Types of Protection Required

• Under Alabama law, drivers must secure infants in a rear-facing car seat until they reach one year of age or 20 pounds in weight. At that point, children may transition to a forward-facing car seat until their fiftth birthday or until they attain a weight of 40 pounds. You must secure your child in a booster seat until he or she is six years old. Alabama's child restraint law allows the use of adult seat belts for children between the ages of six and 14.
  
  The law applies to all motor vehicles in Alabama, which include passenger cars, pick-up trucks, vans with seating for 10 or less, minivans and sports utility vehicles.
  
  

Punishment

• Each violation of Alabama's child restraint law can trigger a $25 fine. Fifteen dollars of the fine goes toward a fund that provides child restraint device vouchers to Alabama's low-income residents. The state also applies points to an offender's driver's license. You will receive one point for your initial violation and two additional points for the second and all subsequent offenses. The court can drop the charges if the defendant furnishes proof of purchase of an appropriate child passenger safety system.
  
  

Agency Recommendations

• Alabama law mirrors ADPH recommendations for child passenger safety through age five. However, with regard to older children, the law stops short of adhering to optimal protection standards. While the child restraint law allows drivers to stop using a booster seat for a child passenger at age six, ADPH urges parents to keep children in booster seats until they reach four feet nine inches tall. ADPH warns that incorrect seat belt use can lead to serious injury or death. An adult seat belt should fit across your child's shoulder and chest with the lap belt portion resting low along the hips. Seat belts should never cross the neck, throat or stomach. ADPH also believes that the back seat is the safest place for children to ride.