Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 321.446 (2026)

Child restraint devices

✓ current as of July 2026

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1. a. A child under one year of age and weighing less than twenty pounds who is being transported in a motor vehicle subject to registration, except a school bus or motorcycle, shall be secured during transit in a rear-facing child restraint system that is used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

b. A child under six years of age who does not meet the description in paragraph “a” and who is being transported in a motor vehicle subject to registration, except a school bus or motorcycle, shall be secured during transit by a child restraint system that is used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

2. A child at least six years of age but under eighteen years of age who is being transported in a motor vehicle subject to registration, except a school bus or motorcycle, shall be secured during transit by a child restraint system that is used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions or by a safety belt or safety harness of a type approved under section 321.445.\n\nTue Dec 09 22:17:00 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 321 (137, 2) §321.446, MOTOR VEHICLES AND LAW OF THE ROAD 240\n\n 3. This section does not apply to the following:

a. Peace officers acting on official duty.

b. The transportation of children in 1965 model year or older vehicles, authorized emergency vehicles, buses, or motor homes or motorsports recreational vehicles, except when a child is transported in a motor home’s or motorsports recreational vehicle’s passenger seat situated directly to the driver’s right.

c. The transportation of a child who has been certified by a physician licensed under chapter 148 or a physician assistant licensed under chapter 148C as having a medical, physical, or mental condition that prevents or makes inadvisable securing the child in a child restraint system, safety belt, or safety harness.

d. A back seat occupant of a motor vehicle for whom no safety belt is available because all safety belts are being used by other occupants or cannot be used due to the use of a child restraint system in the seating position for which a belt is provided.

4. A person who violates this section is guilty of a simple misdemeanor punishable as a scheduled violation under section 805.8A, subsection 14, paragraph “c”. Violations shall be charged as follows:

a. An operator who transports a passenger under fourteen years of age in violation of subsection 1 or 2 may be charged with a violation of this section.

b. If a passenger fourteen years of age or older is unable to properly fasten a seatbelt due to a temporary or permanent disability, an operator who transports such a person in violation of subsection 2 may be charged with a violation of this section. Otherwise, a passenger fourteen years of age or older who violates subsection 2 shall be charged in lieu of the operator.

c. If a child under fourteen years of age, or a child fourteen years of age or older who is unable to fasten a seatbelt due to a temporary or permanent disability, is being transported in a taxicab or in a personal vehicle operated by a transportation network company driver, as defined in section 321N.1, in a manner that is not in compliance with subsection 1 or 2, the parent, legal guardian, or other responsible adult traveling with the child shall be served with a citation for a violation of this section in lieu of the taxicab operator or transportation network company driver. Otherwise, if a passenger being transported in the taxicab or in a personal vehicle operated by a transportation network company driver is fourteen years of age or older, the citation shall be served on the passenger in lieu of the taxicab operator or transportation network company driver.

5. A person who is first charged for a violation of subsection 1 and who has not purchased or otherwise acquired a child restraint system shall not be convicted if the person produces in court, within a reasonable time, proof that the person has purchased or otherwise acquired a child restraint system which meets federal motor vehicle safety standards.

6. Failure to use a child restraint system, safety belts, or safety harnesses as required by this section does not constitute negligence nor is the failure admissible as evidence in a civil action.

7. For purposes of this section, “child restraint system” means a specially designed seating system, including a belt-positioning seat or a booster seat, that meets federal motor vehicle safety standards set forth in 49 C.F.R. §571.213. 84 Acts, ch 1016, §1; 86 Acts, ch 1069, §1; 2000 Acts, ch 1133, §11; 2001 Acts, ch 132, §11; 2001 Acts, ch 137, §5; 2004 Acts, ch 1113, §2, 3; 2005 Acts, ch 8, §32; 2008 Acts, ch 1088, §123; 2010 Acts, ch 1186, §8, 9; 2014 Acts, ch 1127, §11; 2016 Acts, ch 1101, §5, 24; 2022 Acts, ch 1066, §43 Referred to in §321.210, 321.445, 321.555, 805.8A(14)(c)\n\n 321.447 and 321.448 Reserved. \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1988–2022 · leading case: State v. Anspach, 627 N.W.2d 227 (Iowa 2001).

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State v. Anspach, 627 N.W.2d 227 (Iowa 2001). · cites it 8× “See Iowa Code § 321.446 (providing the State counterpart to the safety seat ordinance).”

State v. Hartog, 440 N.W.2d 852 (Iowa 1989). · cites it 2× “river and front seat occupants of a type of motor vehicle which is subject to registration in Iowa, except a motorcycle or a motorized bicycle, shall each wear a properly adjusted and fastened safety belt or safety harness any time the vehicle is in forward motion on a street or…”

Courtney Saunders v. Kyle Thies, 38 F.4th 701 (8th Cir. 2022). “2 Under Iowa Code § 321.446 , a child under six must be secured by “a child restraint system,” which is defined as “a specially designed seating system, including a belt-positioning seat or a booster seat, that meets federal .”

State v. Phelps, 417 N.W.2d 460 (Iowa 1988). · cites it 2× “210, violations of registration laws, violations of section 321.446, operating a vehicle with an expired license or permit, failure to appear, weights and measures violations and speeding violations of less than fifteen miles per hour over the legal speed limit.”

Swelbar v. Lahti, 473 N.W.2d 77 (Minn. Ct. App. 1991). “, Iowa Code § 321.446 (6) (1991) (failure to use child restraint system inadmissible “in a civil action”).”

State of Iowa v. Derrick Earl Johnson (Iowa 2020). · cites it 2× “We held in Hubka that the lack of seat belts or other restraints was not a “superseding cause” of death that would preclude imposing criminal responsibility on the intoxicated driver.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.