Booster seat requirements in Georgia
Nobody has checked this page yet. It was drafted from O.C.G.A. §§ 40-8-76(b), 40-8-76.1(e)(3) and nothing has compared it against the statute since. Read the statute itself before you act on it.
A car seat or booster until age 8.
Unless the child is taller than 57 inches (4 ft 9 in), which ends the requirement whatever their age.
- Back seat until
- age 8
- Seat belt alone from
- age 8
- First offense
- $50
What the Georgia booster seat law says
The stages below are separate rules in the statute, not one rule in steps. The back seat requirement and the restraint requirement are different obligations, and a child can be caught by both at once.
| Rule | Figure | What Georgia requires |
|---|---|---|
| Car seat or booster | under 8 years | Until age 8, unless the child is taller than 57 inches (4 ft 9 in). |
| Back seat | under 8 years | Required for a child under age 8. |
| Adult seat belt alone | from 8 years | Lawful from age 8, or once the child reaches more than 57 inches (4 ft 9 in). |
| Penalty | $50 | $50 for a first offense. Condition Not more than $50 on a first conviction and not more than $100 on a second or subsequent one. § 40-8-76(b)(2) forbids a court from adding any fee or surcharge to the fine. The provision that let a court waive a first fine for a six or seven year old on proof a seat had since been bought expired on 1 January 2012 and is no longer available. The figures are statutory maximums, not fixed amounts. |
Size ends the requirement, whichever comes first. A child who is taller than 57 inches (4 ft 9 in) is out of the booster in Georgia whatever their age. A child who has not reached that stays in one until age 8. The size is an escape from the age rule rather than a second thing that also has to be true.
Where this and size guidance disagree, follow the stricter one. A belt that crosses the neck rather than the middle of the chest is worse protection than a booster even where the statute allows it.
The statute
Georgia sets this in O.C.G.A. §§ 40-8-76(b), 40-8-76.1(e)(3). Read it at the source.
This is information, not legal advice. A city or county in Georgia can set a stricter rule than the state one, and an officer enforces the text of the statute rather than a summary of it. Where this page and the statute differ, the statute is right and this page is a bug.
Where this comes from
- Statute
- O.C.G.A. §§ 40-8-76(b), 40-8-76.1(e)(3)
- Source
- www.legis.ga.gov
- Jurisdiction
- Georgia (GA), state law only
- Last reviewed
- 4 October 2026 0 days ago
- Read at the statute
- Not since it was drafted
- Signed off by a person
- Not yet
- Amendment history
- Ga. L. 2011, Act 62 (SB 88), effective 1 July 2011