Booster seat requirements in Tennessee
A car seat or booster until age 9.
Unless the child is at least 57 inches (4 ft 9 in) tall, which ends the requirement whatever their age.
- Rear facing until
- 12 months conditions
- Back seat until
- age 9 conditions
- Seat belt alone from
- age 9
Every figure on this page was read at Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-9-602 on 4 October 2026. Read the statute
What the Tennessee 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 Tennessee requires |
|---|---|---|
| Rear facing | under 12 months | Until 12 months (1 year). Condition The weight limb widens this rather than ending it. A child of any age weighing twenty pounds or less must still be in a rear facing restraint, not only a child under one. |
| Car seat or booster | under 9 years | Until age 9, unless the child is at least 57 inches (4 ft 9 in) tall. |
| Back seat | under 9 years | Required for a child under age 9. Condition Written as "in the rear seat if available or according to the child safety restraint system or vehicle manufacturer’s instructions", so it is conditional rather than absolute. For a child nine through twelve the statute only recommends the rear seat. |
| Adult seat belt alone | from 9 years | Lawful from age 9, or once the child reaches 57 inches (4 ft 9 in). |
| Penalty | no figure | No amount recorded. Condition A violation is a Class C misdemeanor under § 55-9-602(c)(1); the section itself sets no amount for the car seat and booster stages, and the amount comes from the general misdemeanor sentencing statute rather than from here. A first offender may also be required to attend a court approved offenders’ class, which may charge a fee. Separately, a person charged under subsection (g), the nine to fifteen seat belt rule, may pay fifty dollars to the court clerk in lieu of appearing, and no litigation tax, clerk’s fee or court costs may be added to a subsection (g) conviction. All fines under the section go to the state child safety fund, which buys restraints to lend or give to parents. |
Size ends the requirement, whichever comes first. A child who is at least 57 inches (4 ft 9 in) tall is out of the booster in Tennessee whatever their age. A child who has not reached that stays in one until age 9. 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
Tennessee sets this in Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-9-602. Read it at the source.
This is information, not legal advice. A city or county in Tennessee 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
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-9-602
- Source
- www.tn.gov
- Jurisdiction
- Tennessee (TN), 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
- Not established. The Department of Safety describes the present stages as the changes effective 1 July 2004, while its own 2010 report dates the violation categories to 1 July 2005. Neither could be checked against the code’s amendment history, so no amendment date is asserted and no claim is made that the section is current.