Florida Statutes
Fla. Stat. § 316.613 (2025)
Child restraint requirements.
✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session
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316.613 Child restraint requirements.—
(1)(a) Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined in this section, while transporting a child in a motor vehicle operated on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall, if the child is 5 years of age or younger, provide for protection of the child by properly using a crash-tested, federally approved child restraint device.
1. For children aged through 3 years, such restraint device must be a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturer’s integrated child seat.
2. For children aged 4 through 5 years, a separate carrier, an integrated child seat, or a child booster seat may be used. However, the requirement to use a child restraint device under this subparagraph does not apply when a safety belt is used as required in s. 316.614(4)(a) and the child:
a. Is being transported gratuitously by an operator who is not a member of the child’s immediate family;
b. Is being transported in a medical emergency situation involving the child; or
c. Has a medical condition that necessitates an exception as evidenced by appropriate documentation from a health care professional.
(b) The department shall provide notice of the requirement for child restraint devices, which notice shall accompany the delivery of each motor vehicle license tag.
(2) As used in this section, the term “motor vehicle” means a motor vehicle as defined in s. 316.003 that is operated on the roadways, streets, and highways of the state. The term does not include:
(a) A school bus as defined in s. 316.003.
(b) A bus used for the transportation of persons for compensation, other than a bus regularly used to transport children to or from school, as defined in s. 316.615(1)(b), or in conjunction with school activities.
(c) A farm tractor or implement of husbandry.
(d) A truck having a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds.
(e) A motorcycle, a moped, a bicycle, or an electric bicycle.
(3) The failure to provide and use a child passenger restraint shall not be considered comparative negligence, nor shall such failure be admissible as evidence in the trial of any civil action with regard to negligence.
(4) It is the legislative intent that all state, county, and local law enforcement agencies, and safety councils, in recognition of the problems with child death and injury from unrestrained occupancy in motor vehicles, conduct a continuing safety and public awareness campaign as to the magnitude of the problem.
(5) Any person who violates this section commits a moving violation, punishable as provided in chapter 318 and shall have 3 points assessed against his or her driver license as set forth in s. 322.27. In lieu of the penalty specified in s. 318.18 and the assessment of points, a person who violates this section may elect, with the court’s approval, to participate in a child restraint safety program approved by the chief judge of the circuit in which the violation occurs, and, upon completing such program, the penalty specified in chapter 318 and associated costs may be waived at the court’s discretion and the assessment of points shall be waived. The child restraint safety program must use a course approved by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and the fee for the course must bear a reasonable relationship to the cost of providing the course.
(6) The child restraint requirements imposed by this section do not apply to a chauffeur-driven taxi, limousine, sedan, van, bus, motor coach, or other passenger vehicle if the operator and the motor vehicle are hired and used for the transportation of persons for compensation. It is the obligation and responsibility of the parent, guardian, or other person responsible for a child’s welfare as defined in s. 39.01 to comply with the requirements of this section.
History.—s. 1, ch. 82-58; s. 1, ch. 86-49; s. 2, ch. 87-200; s. 2, ch. 91-136; s. 28, ch. 94-306; s. 903, ch. 95-148; s. 35, ch. 96-350; s. 56, ch. 99-8; s. 240, ch. 99-248; s. 1, ch. 99-316; s. 18, ch. 2000-313; s. 40, ch. 2005-164; s. 9, ch. 2008-176; s. 14, ch. 2011-66; s. 13, ch. 2012-181; s. 53, ch. 2014-224; s. 1, ch. 2014-226; s. 68, ch. 2016-239; s. 13, ch. 2017-3; s. 13, ch. 2017-150; s. 9, ch. 2020-69.
Civil Citations under F.S. 316.613
Driver's license points · R = revocation · S = suspension§316.613NO/IMPROPER CHILD RESTRAINT/BOOSTER - (Driver to be cited)
§316.613(1)(a)Child Restraint required
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11
cases, 1984–2016 · leading case: Quarantello v. Leroy, 977 So. 2d 648 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008).
Quarantello v. Leroy, 977 So. 2d 648 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008). “§ 316.613, Fla. Stat. (1999). The issue we must resolve, which appears to be a matter of first impression, is whether section 316.”
Ins. Co. of North Am. v. Pasakarnis, 451 So. 2d 447 (Fla. 1984). “§ 316.613, Fla. Stat. (1983). Significantly, in my view, our elected representatives have chosen not to require seat belts or restraining devices for children above five years of age or for adults when it could easily have done so.”
Parker v. Montgomery, 529 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988). “Appellants asserted below, as an affirmative defense, that the failure of the mother to place her child in an approved child passenger restraint, as required by Section 316.613(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1985), was negligence, contending that such failure was the cause of…”
Shands Teaching Hosp. & Clinics v. Smith, 480 So. 2d 1366 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). “§ 316.613, Fla. Stat. (1983). Significantly, in my view, our elected representatives have chosen not to require seat belts or restraining devices for children above five years of age or for adults when it could easily have done so.”
Edic Ex Rel. Edic v. Century Prods. Co., 364 F.3d 1276 (11th Cir. 2004). “Fla. Stat. Ann. § 316.613 (3) (2001). We discuss each of these arguments in turn, accepting the first two and rejecting the last two.”
Ridley v. Saf. Kleen Corp., 693 So. 2d 934 (Fla. 1997). “(1982) (codified at § 316.613(1)-(4), Fla.Stat. (1985)), and an administrative rule requiring state employees to wear seat belts when using a motor vehicle on state business, Fla.”
Stand. Jury Instructions-Civil Cases, 778 So. 2d 264 (Fla. 2000). “, § 316.613, Fla. Stat. (19871997) (failure to provide and use a child passenger restraint inadmissible in civil action as evidence of negligence).”
Madaris v. State of Oregon High. Div., 723 P.2d 1054 (Or. Ct. App. 1986). “…6 See Ala Code § 32-5-222; Ariz Rev Stat Ann § 28-907; Ark Stat Ann § 75-2606; Del Code Ann tit 21, § 4199 C; Fla Stat § 316.613(3); Idaho Code § 49-763 (3); Md Transp Code Ann § 22-412.2; ORS 811.210; Pa Stat Ann tit 75, § 4585; RI Gen Laws § 31-22-22; SC Code Ann §…”
In Re Stand. Jury Instructions, 540 So. 2d 825 (Fla. 1989). “If you find that a person alleged to have been negligent violated such a traffic regulation, you may consider that fact, together with the other facts and circumstances, in determining whether such person was negligent.”
Classy Cycles, Inc. v. Bay Cnty., 201 So. 3d 779 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016). “303 (ban on television receivers), § 316.304 (ban on headsets), §§ 316.”
Cybroski v. Wright, 927 So. 2d 1089 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006). “NOTES [1] The trial court cited section 316.613 in its written order. Section 316.”
— 316.613(1) — 3 cases
Quarantello v. Leroy, 977 So. 2d 648 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008). “§ 316.613, Fla. Stat. (1999). The issue we must resolve, which appears to be a matter of first impression, is whether section 316.”
Ins. Co. of North Am. v. Pasakarnis, 451 So. 2d 447 (Fla. 1984). “§ 316.613, Fla. Stat. (1983). Significantly, in my view, our elected representatives have chosen not to require seat belts or restraining devices for children above five years of age or for adults when it could easily have done so.”
Ridley v. Saf. Kleen Corp., 693 So. 2d 934 (Fla. 1997). “(1982) (codified at § 316.613(1)-(4), Fla.Stat. (1985)), and an administrative rule requiring state employees to wear seat belts when using a motor vehicle on state business, Fla.”
— 316.613(1)(a) — 1 case
Parker v. Montgomery, 529 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988). “Appellants asserted below, as an affirmative defense, that the failure of the mother to place her child in an approved child passenger restraint, as required by Section 316.613(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1985), was negligence, contending that such failure was the cause of…”
— 316.613(3) — 3 cases
Quarantello v. Leroy, 977 So. 2d 648 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008). “§ 316.613, Fla. Stat. (1999). The issue we must resolve, which appears to be a matter of first impression, is whether section 316.”
Parker v. Montgomery, 529 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988). “Appellants asserted below, as an affirmative defense, that the failure of the mother to place her child in an approved child passenger restraint, as required by Section 316.613(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1985), was negligence, contending that such failure was the cause of…”
Madaris v. State of Oregon High. Div., 723 P.2d 1054 (Or. Ct. App. 1986). “…6 See Ala Code § 32-5-222; Ariz Rev Stat Ann § 28-907; Ark Stat Ann § 75-2606; Del Code Ann tit 21, § 4199 C; Fla Stat § 316.613(3); Idaho Code § 49-763 (3); Md Transp Code Ann § 22-412.2; ORS 811.210; Pa Stat Ann tit 75, § 4585; RI Gen Laws § 31-22-22; SC Code Ann §…”
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