• Kids in Virginia must use a child safety restraint until age eight.child image by Renata Osinska from Fotolia.com
  
  As we learn more about the importance of child safety restraints in vehicles for the protection of our kids, laws evolve and change to provide optimum safety guidelines for parents to follow. The State of Virginia mandates that parents and other caregivers who transport children follow certain laws to ensure child safety and avoid fines.
  
  

Age Requirements

• Children in Virginia must use a child safety restraint until their eighth birthday. The state of Virginia, unlike many other states, does not allow for any exceptions for height and weight. The law is governed by age only and alleviates complicated assessments such as measuring your child or weighing them to determine the appropriate course of action.
  
  

Placement of Safety Seats

• Place rear-facing car seats for infants and toddlers in the vehicle's back seat and secure them properly, according to the instructions. In cars without a rear seat, the side passenger airbag must be disabled. Side airbags, like front airbags, can be more harmful than helpful to children due to the forceful impact of the airbag and the small size of the child. The height of the child often means the airbags will strike more vulnerable areas, including the head and neck, which can be fatal injuries. Virginia law does not address front airbags.
  
  

Prohibited Areas

• It is illegal to allow children to ride in a rear cargo area of a vehicle, such as the back of a pickup truck or rear of a cargo van, whether they are restrained or not. Passengers 16 and over are permitted to ride in the rear cargo area of a pickup truck.
  
  

Individuals Subject to Law

• Child safety restraint laws apply not only to parents who transport their children, but also to grandparents, caregivers, friends and other relatives. Everyone who transports a child in his car assumes the responsibility to see that the child is properly and safely restrained according to law.
  
  

Fines and Penalties

• An officer of the law needs no additional reason to stop a vehicle other than an improperly restrained or unrestrained child passenger in the car. The initial fine for a first offense is $50 in 2011. Additional citations allow penalties of up to $500.
  
  

Exemptions

• There are exceptions to the Virginia child restraint laws. Children may ride unrestrained in limousines, school buses, taxis and in car services that use executive sedans. Special allowances are made for farming procedures and parades, due to the low incidence of other traffic. Medical reasons are another exemption, but the driver must carry and provide written documentation to this effect. Failure to do so can result in a $20 fine, by law.
  
  

Low-Income Families

• Low-income families can obtain assistance with child safety restraint purchases by contacting the Virginia Department of Health at 800-732-8333. This service is governed by the Division of Injury and Violence Prevention and receives funding from fines collected from child safety restraint violations.