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. AAP/NHTSA best practice (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.