Tools · Car Seat
Texas Car Seat & Booster Checker (2026)
Enter your child's age, height, and weight to see the minimum seat stage Texas law requires and the first-offense fine ($25–$250). This is the legal minimum, not best safety practice.
Texas car seat checker
4′9″ = 57 in. Enter only the boxes you have. Texas uses exit at age 8 or taller than 4′9″, whichever comes first.
Texas does not legislate rear-facing vs forward-facing by age; it requires a restraint appropriate per the manufacturer's instructions. Best practice from AAP (the pediatricians' association) and NHTSA (the federal highway-safety agency), not Texas law: rear-facing to age 2+, then a harness, then a booster.
- Child
- Not entered
- Minimum legal stage
- Enter age / height / weight
- Booster-exit rule
- exit at age 8 or taller than 4′9″, whichever comes first
- First-offense fine
- $25–$250
Plain-language summary, not legal advice.
This shows the minimum legal requirement in Texas, 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 Texas car seat law reference, cited to Tex. Transp. Code §545.412 (last reviewed 2026-07-09).
How Texas car seat law works
Texas is one of the seven states that do not legislate the rear-facing stage by age. Transportation Code §545.412 simply requires a child under 8 to ride in a child restraint used per the seat manufacturer’s instructions, so "rear-facing until 2" is AAP/NHTSA best practice in Texas, not a statute. Where Texas is clean is the booster-exit question everyone searches: a child needs a restraint until age 8 or until they are taller than 4′9″, whichever comes first. Texas also has no front-seat law; the familiar "back seat until 13" is a TxDPS recommendation, not something an officer can cite. The penalty is written as a range (not less than $25 and not more than $250) rather than a single first-offense figure.
This checker shows the Texas 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 Texas car seat law reference.
Car seat checkers for other states
Same tool, each with its own booster-exit rule.