Update to Michigan Child Passengers Safety Laws

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In Michigan, laws affecting how children ride in cars will align with guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Read the full article on our website.

Resources

• New child passenger safety laws based on guidelines and best practices recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics
• More information on child passenger safety and injury prevention.
• Find a certified child passenger safety technician near you at Safe Kids Worldwide

Transcript 

Host: 

Welcome to Health Lab, your destination for news and stories about the future of healthcare. 

Today, two pediatric trauma experts from the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital answer questions about recent updates to the child passenger safety laws in Michigan. 

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children under 18.‍

And in the past five years, the Pediatric Trauma Program at University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital has treated nearly 200 pediatric patients from motor vehicle crashes.

Starting on April 2, 2025, Michigan implemented new child passenger safety laws based on guidelines and best practices recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

These updates include keeping children riding in a rear-facing car seat until they are at least 2 years old, keeping children in harnessed car seats until they are at least 5 years old, in booster seats until they are 8 years old, and buckled in the back seat until they are 13 years old.

Marie Snodgrass, injury prevention program lead, and Clarissa Santana, injury prevention specialist, both work for the Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention Program at Mott. To help understand these updated laws, Health Lab asked Snodgrass and Santana to lend their expertise to answering top questions that parents need to know.

Let’s get started.

1. What were the previous laws regarding child passenger safety?
2. What did you hope to see with these new laws?
3. Are there any other safety measures that parents should be aware of?

Snodgrass says that the previous laws stated that children had to be in seats in the back until they were 4 years old. But that this was a vague statement, since it didn’t mention how they should be riding or in what kind of seats.

“We saw many confused and upset parents at the trauma center, after their children were involved in crashes, who wished they had known better.”

Santana shares that there was a lot of misunderstanding about how to properly install and use a car seat, and consequently, kids were put in uncomfortable situations where the adult seatbelts didn’t fit them properly.

“This resulted in injuries to the head, spinal cord and internal organs. These weren’t simple visits to the emergency department. They required a lot of care, long hospitalization times and surgeries. As child passenger safety instructors, we know that these injuries could have been prevented if the child was properly restrained.”

Santana says, “Our primary purpose is advocacy. Hopefully, more families will hear about these laws and schedule an appointment to get a car seat check or look further into the details of the car seats they're using.” She goes on, “It’s important to remember that guidelines evolve as we learn more. What worked 30 years ago, when there were fewer cars on the road, people were driving slower and there were fewer distractions, will not work now.”

Snodgrass says, “We advocated for these changes for over a decade because we wanted parents to know that the laws align with what we know to be best practices. We do not want anyone to be punished because of these new updates. In fact, there is an accompanying bill which states that if someone gets a citation or a ticket for not having a proper car seat or for improperly restraining their child, the ticket can be waived.”

To do so, they must acquire an appropriate car seat and meet with a certified child passenger safety technician.

Snodgrass says that regardless of the temperature outside, never leave your kids in the car, even if you’re running a quick errand.

Cars can heat up quickly, and it’s not safe even if you crack the windows open.

“Heat stroke can happen when the body temperature reaches 104 degrees Fahrenheit.” She adds, “A baby’s body heats up three to five times faster than an adult’s body.”

Santana recommends checking in and around your vehicle after you exit and before you lock the car.

“Especially in busy neighborhoods, a child could sneak into the car while playing hide and seek, for example. If you’re looking away when you lock the car, they could be trapped inside.”

Additional information on child passenger safety and injury prevention, and how to find a certified child passenger safety technician near you will be included in the episode description.

A reminder that all Health Lab content including health news, best practices and research insights are for informational purposes only, and are not a substitute for professional medical guidance. Always seek the advice of a health care provider for questions about your health and treatment options.

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