California Vehicle Code Section 27363 is the exceptions statute. It lists the specific situations in which the state’s usual child restraint rules bend: when a child under eight can wear a regular seat belt instead of using a car seat or booster, when a child under eight can ride in the front seat, and when a court or an emergency can excuse the requirements entirely. The base rules themselves live in a different section.
The Rule That 27363 Modifies
Section 27360 is the mandate. It requires every child under eight to ride in the back seat, properly secured in a car seat or booster seat that meets federal motor vehicle safety standards.1California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 27360 – Child Passenger Restraint Requirements It also requires children under two to ride rear-facing unless the child weighs at least 40 pounds or stands at least 40 inches tall.2California Highway Patrol. Child Safety Seats Whichever restraint is used, it has to stay within the manufacturer’s height and weight range for that seat.
Section 27363 is where the legislature carved out every exception to those requirements.
When a Seat Belt Alone Is Enough
A child younger than eight who is at least four feet nine inches tall does not need a car seat or booster. That child can ride secured by the vehicle’s standard safety belt.3California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 27363 – Child Safety Belt and Passenger Restraint Requirements For the belt to actually protect the child, the lap portion should sit low across the hips and upper thighs, and the shoulder strap should cross the center of the chest without cutting into the neck or face.4California Department of Public Health. California Laws – Keep Your Child Safe in the Car If it doesn’t fit that way, the child needs a booster regardless of the height threshold.
There is a second, narrower seat belt exception. A child who weighs more than 40 pounds may ride in the back seat wearing a lap belt alone when the vehicle’s rear seating positions do not have combination lap-and-shoulder belts.3California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 27363 – Child Safety Belt and Passenger Restraint Requirements This mostly matters in older vehicles that were built without rear shoulder belts.
When a Child Under Eight Can Ride Up Front
The default under Section 27360 is the back seat. Section 27363 permits a child under eight to ride in front, still properly secured in an appropriate restraint, in six specific circumstances:3California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 27363 – Child Safety Belt and Passenger Restraint Requirements
- The vehicle has no rear seat.
- The rear seats are side-facing jump seats.
- The rear seats face the rear of the vehicle.
- A child restraint system cannot be installed properly in any rear seating position.
- All rear seats are already occupied by children seven years old or younger.
- A medical reason makes it necessary. The court may require documentation of the condition.
One hard limit overrides all of these. A rear-facing car seat cannot be placed in the front when the vehicle has an active front passenger airbag.3California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 27363 – Child Safety Belt and Passenger Restraint Requirements The airbag deploying into the back of a rear-facing seat can cause fatal injuries to a small child.
Court-Granted and Emergency Exemptions
A court can grant a full exemption from the car seat requirement when a child’s physical condition, medical needs, or size make a standard restraint impractical. The court may ask for documentation of the condition and evidence that no available special-needs restraint would work.3California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 27363 – Child Safety Belt and Passenger Restraint Requirements
Section 27363 also excuses the car seat requirement during a life-threatening emergency, or when a child is being transported in an authorized emergency vehicle and no car seat is available. The child still has to wear a seat belt.3California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 27363 – Child Safety Belt and Passenger Restraint Requirements A forgotten seat or a short trip is not an emergency.
Who Gets Cited
Liability under these sections falls on the parent, legal guardian, or driver transporting the child. A grandparent, a neighbor, or a rideshare driver can be cited if the child is not properly restrained. There is one carve-out: if the child’s parent or legal guardian is riding in the vehicle as a passenger while someone else drives, the driver is not liable.5California Legislative Information. California Vehicle Code 27360-27360.6 – Child Safety Belt and Passenger Restraint Requirements Responsibility stays with the parent or guardian who is in the car.
What a Violation Costs
The base fine is $100 for a first offense and $250 for any later violation. Those figures are only the starting point. California layers penalty assessments on top of every traffic fine: a state penalty, a county penalty, a DNA fund assessment, a court construction fee, an emergency medical services assessment, and a 20 percent state surcharge.
After the assessments, a $100 base fine reaches roughly $490 depending on the county.6California Courts. Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedules A $250 second-offense fine, run through the same multipliers, ends up well over $1,000. A conviction also adds one point to the driver’s record, which can move insurance rates.
A driver who can show economic hardship may ask the court to reduce or waive the fine. When the court does so, it must refer the driver to a child passenger safety education program and confirm attendance.
One boundary worth naming: Section 27363 governs the under-eight rules. Children aged 8 through 15 fall under a separate statute, Section 27360.5, which requires them to be secured in either an appropriate child restraint system or a standard safety belt.7California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 27360.5 The exceptions in 27363 do not extend to that older age group.