Tools · Car Seat
Florida Car Seat & Booster Checker (2026)
Enter your child's age, height, and weight to see the minimum seat stage Florida law requires and the first-offense fine (No set statutory amount). This is the legal minimum — not best safety practice.
Florida car seat checker
4′9″ = 57 in. Enter only the boxes you have — Florida uses a restraint/booster is required only through age 5; a seat belt is allowed at age 6.
Florida does not legislate rear-facing vs forward-facing by age — it requires a restraint appropriate per the manufacturer's instructions. AAP/NHTSA best practice (not Florida law): rear-facing to age 2+, then a harness, then a booster.
Heads up: A 2025–2026 bill (HB 233 / SB 1384) to extend booster use to ages 6–8 died in committee (March 2026). Florida’s age-5 cutoff still stands.
- Child
- Not entered
- Minimum legal stage
- Enter age / height / weight
- Booster-exit rule
- a restraint/booster is required only through age 5; a seat belt is allowed at age 6
- First-offense fine
- No set statutory amount
Plain-language summary, not legal advice.
This shows the minimum legal requirement in Florida — not best safety practice, which is usually stricter, and not legal or safety advice. Always follow your car seat's manufacturer instructions. For the full four-stage rules, front-seat rule, and citation, see the Florida car seat law reference, cited to Fla. Stat. §316.613 (+ §316.614) (last reviewed 2026-07-09).
How Florida car seat law works
Florida has the weakest booster rule of these 15 states, and it is worth stating plainly: the restraint mandate ends at age 6. A child 4–5 may use a booster (or carrier/integrated seat), but at age 6 a plain seat belt is legal — there is no height or weight requirement in §316.613. Florida also does not legislate rear-facing by age, so "rear-facing until 2" is AAP/NHTSA best practice here, not law. Two things people get wrong: a 2025–2026 effort to raise the booster age to 6–8 died in committee, so the age-5 cutoff still applies; and the "fine" is not a fixed dollar figure — the statute makes it a 3-point moving violation (roughly $60 in practice, varying by county), not a set amount. Front-seat placement is a recommendation in Florida, not a law.
This checker shows the Florida minimum legal requirement — not best safety practice, which is usually stricter — and is not legal or safety advice. For the full four-stage rules, front-seat rule, and citation, see the Florida car seat law reference.
Car seat checkers for other states
Same tool, each with its own booster-exit rule.