Booster seat requirements in Rhode Island
A car seat or booster until age 8.
Unless the child is at least 57 inches (4 ft 9 in) tall or weighs at least 80 lb, which ends the requirement whatever their age.
- Rear facing until
- 24 months
- Back seat until
- age 8
- Seat belt alone from
- age 8
- First offense
- $100
Every figure on this page was read at R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-22-22 on 4 October 2026. Read the statute
What the Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island requires |
|---|---|---|
| Rear facing | under 24 months | Until 24 months (2 years). |
| Car seat or booster | under 8 years | Until age 8, unless the child is at least 57 inches (4 ft 9 in) tall or weighs at least 80 lb. |
| 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 57 inches (4 ft 9 in) or 80 lb. |
| Penalty | $100 | $100 for a first offense. Condition The section itself only cross references § 31-41.1-4. That schedule sets $100 for "no child restraint" under 31-22-22(a). It prints $100 against a second 31-22-22(a) line for a child restrained but not in a rear seating position, but 31-22-22(d) overrides that: a child who is properly restrained and merely seated outside a rear seating position is "subject only to the fine contained in subdivision (c)(2)", which is the subsection (b) fine, priced at $40 in the same schedule. A citation is voided outright if the cited person shows the issuing police department proof of purchase of an approved restraint within seven days. Convictions are not recorded on the driving record. |
Size ends the requirement, whichever comes first. A child who is at least 57 inches (4 ft 9 in) tall or weighs at least 80 lb is out of the booster in Rhode Island 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. Rhode Island gives more than one, and meeting either is enough.
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
Rhode Island sets this in R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-22-22. Read it at the source.
This is information, not legal advice. A city or county in Rhode Island 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
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-22-22
- Source
- webserver.rilegislature.gov
- Jurisdiction
- Rhode Island (RI), 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.L. 2017, ch. 16, § 1 and P.L. 2017, ch. 30, § 1