Booster seat requirements in Illinois
A car seat or booster until age 8.
Illinois sets no height or weight that ends the requirement early. Age is the only test.
- Rear facing until
- 24 months
- Seat belt alone from
- age 8
- First offense
- $75
Every figure on this page was read at 625 ILCS 25/4, 25/4a, 25/6 (Child Passenger Protection Act) on 4 October 2026. Read the statute
What the Illinois booster seat law says
The stages below are separate rules in the statute, not one rule in steps.
| Rule | Figure | What Illinois requires |
|---|---|---|
| Rear facing | under 24 months | Until 24 months (2 years), unless the child is at least 40 inches (3 ft 4 in) tall or weighs at least 40 lb. |
| Car seat or booster | under 8 years | Until age 8. |
| Adult seat belt alone | from 8 years | Lawful from age 8. |
| Penalty | $75 | $75 for a first offense. Condition A petty offense: $75 for a first violation and $200 for a second or subsequent one. A person charged with a first violation of the restraint requirement is not convicted if they produce satisfactory evidence in court of possessing an approved child restraint system together with proof of completing an instructional course on installing one. That reprieve is unavailable on a second or later violation. |
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
Illinois sets this in 625 ILCS 25/4, 25/4a, 25/6 (Child Passenger Protection Act). Read it at the source.
This is information, not legal advice. A city or county in Illinois 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
- 625 ILCS 25/4, 25/4a, 25/6 (Child Passenger Protection Act)
- Source
- www.ilga.gov
- Jurisdiction
- Illinois (IL), state law only
- Last reviewed
- 4 October 2026 0 days ago
- Read at the statute
- 4 October 2026
- Signed off by a person
- Not yet
- Amendment history
- P.A. 100-672, effective 1 January 2019