Is it legal to have a child in the back extended cab small seat without a child seat or boaster? My child is about 42 lb and 5 years old. looking for someone who knows the laws in oregon.
Safety Belt & Child Seat Laws
The following are general descriptions of Oregon's safety belt and child restraint laws. Specific wording of statutory requirements can be found at ORS 811.210 - 811.225. (Note: You will have to scroll down to the appropriate statute number).
ADULT BELT LAW: Oregon law requires that all motor vehicle operators and passengers be properly secured with a safety belt or safety harness, unless all safety-belt equipped seating positions are occupied by other persons. This applies to passenger cars, pick up trucks, motorhomes, and fee-based people transport carrying fifteen or fewer persons. Limited exemptions are allowed under ORS 811.215. Vehicle owners are required to maintain belt systems in working order.
CHILD RESTRAINT LAW: (effective July 1, 2007) Child passengers must be restrained in approved child safety seats until they weigh forty pounds. Infants must ride rear-facing until they reach both one year of age AND twenty pounds.
BOOSTER SEAT LAW: (effective July 1, 2007) Children over forty pounds must use boosters to 4'9" tall unless they have reached age eight.
NATIONAL "BEST PRACTICE" RECOMMENDATIONS: Oregon child seat laws generally reflect USDOT National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommendations based upon accepted nationwide research studies. However, NHTSA offers the following two additional recommendations which are not currently included in Oregon law: 1) children should ride rear-facing in their car seat until they reach the upper height or weight limit recommended by the manufacturer of the seat in use (provides greater head protection particularly in a side-impact crash), and 2) children under age thirteen should ride in the back seat (reduces the risk of crash injury by 37% for this age group.)
MOTOR HOMES:
Motor homes are considered passenger vehicles under Oregon law and as such, adult belt and child seat requirements apply also to motor homes --- but only to forward-facing vehicle seating positions (those meeting federal safety standards for seat belt anchorages). Therefore, occupants should utilize all forward-facing belted positions before using side or rear-facing positions.
COMMERCIAL VEHICLES:
Oregon's safety belt law requires occupants of privately-owned commercial vehicles transporting 15 or fewer persons to use safety restraints including occupants of shuttles, taxis, limousines and vans. Among these types of vehicles, taxi cab drivers are the only occupants excepted from this rule. Effective January 1st, 2008, the previous exemption for commercial vehicles "designed or used primarily for transportation of property" is removed.
ATVS:
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is the implementing agency for laws and rules relating to use of restraints on ATVs.
Please visit their website at :
http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/ATV/index.shtml
MEDICAL EXEMPTIONS:
ORS 811.220 The Director of Transportation shall issue a certificate of exemption under ORS 811.215 for any person whose behalf a statement signed by a physician is presented to the Department of Transportation. For a physician's statement to qualify under this section, the physician giving the statement must set forth reasons in the statement why the use of a child safety seat system, or safety belt or safety harness by the person would be impractical or harmful to the person by reason of physician condition, medical problem or body size.
A safety restraint exemption can not be issued for commercial drivers per Federal Code 392-16
Faxes can not be accepted. Please send in ORIGINAL copies only.
Safety Belt Medical Exemption Form Download
For more information, please contact Melody McGee, Seatbelt Medical Exemption Coordinator:
(503) 986-3590
