New Car Seat Regulations Coming to Massachusetts This Month

If you're a parent, you know that it can be a fun task wrestling with your child's car seat and making sure it's installed properly. Right when you think you have it all figured out, new car seat regulations are coming to Massachusetts.

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According to the website What to Expect, new car seat regulations soon go into effect in Massachusetts, as safety standards are regularly changing. Here's what the website states about the new safety standard:

The new standard, called Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 213a, states that all harnessed car seats that carry children under 40 pounds must also hold up in a 30-mile per hour (mph) side collision crash test. New dummies are being used for compliance testing — these dummies reflect the sizes of a 12-month-old, a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old. The previous standard required these seats to meet the performance criteria of a 30-mph frontal impact crash test simulation but did not have regulations regarding side-impact crash testing.

The good news is that if you have a car seat that is properly installed and isn't past the expiration date, you don't have to run out and purchase a new one, as your current car seat is extremely safe. You can check with the manufacturer to see if your car seat meets the new safety standards. It probably does, but it doesn't hurt to check.

The new standards are all about keeping children safe, which means fewer injuries and deaths on the road. No matter where you live in Massachusetts, whether it's Boston, Worcester, Springfield, or everywhere in between, these new standards will take effect on June 30, 2025.

If you want to make sure your child's car seat is properly installed, it's worth mentioning that many police stations throughout Massachusetts provide this service; other organizations host car seat safety check events (check with your town or city's website). You can find a comprehensive list of car seat inspection sites in Massachusetts by going here.