{"data":{"id":"us-ia/iowa-code-321.446","jurisdiction":"us-ia","citation":"Iowa Code § 321.446","heading":"Child restraint devices.","body":"1. a. A child under one year of age and weighing less than twenty pounds who is being transported in a motor vehicle subject to registration, except a school bus or motorcycle, shall be secured during transit in a rear-facing child restraint system that is used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.\nb. A child under six years of age who does not meet the description in paragraph “a” and who is being transported in a motor vehicle subject to registration, except a school bus or motorcycle, shall be secured during transit by a child restraint system that is used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.\n2. A child at least six years of age but under eighteen years of age who is being transported in a motor vehicle subject to registration, except a school bus or motorcycle, shall be secured during transit by a child restraint system that is used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions or by a safety belt or safety harness of a type approved under section 321.445.\n3. This section does not apply to the following:\na. Peace officers acting on official duty.\nb. The transportation of children in 1965 model year or older vehicles, authorized emergency vehicles, buses, or motor homes or motorsports recreational vehicles, except when a child is transported in a motor home’s or motorsports recreational vehicle’s passenger seat situated directly to the driver’s right.\nc. The transportation of a child who has been certified by a physician licensed under chapter 148 or a physician assistant licensed under chapter 148C as having a medical, physical, or mental condition that prevents or makes inadvisable securing the child in a child restraint system, safety belt, or safety harness.\nd. A back seat occupant of a motor vehicle for whom no safety belt is available because all safety belts are being used by other occupants or cannot be used due to the use of a child restraint system in the seating position for which a belt is provided.\n4. A person who violates this section is guilty of a simple misdemeanor punishable as a scheduled violation under section 805.8A, subsection 14, paragraph “c”. Violations shall be charged as follows:\na. An operator who transports a passenger under fourteen years of age in violation of subsection 1 or 2 may be charged with a violation of this section.\nb. If a passenger fourteen years of age or older is unable to properly fasten a seatbelt due to a temporary or permanent disability, an operator who transports such a person in violation of subsection 2 may be charged with a violation of this section. Otherwise, a passenger fourteen years of age or older who violates subsection 2 shall be charged in lieu of the operator.\nc. If a child under fourteen years of age, or a child fourteen years of age or older who is unable to fasten a seatbelt due to a temporary or permanent disability, is being transported in a taxicab or in a personal vehicle operated by a transportation network company driver, as defined in section 321N.1, in a manner that is not in compliance with subsection 1 or 2, the parent, legal guardian, or other responsible adult traveling with the child shall be served with a citation for a violation of this section in lieu of the taxicab operator or transportation network company driver. Otherwise, if a passenger being transported in the taxicab or in a personal vehicle operated by a transportation network company driver is fourteen years of age or older, the citation shall be served on the passenger in lieu of the taxicab operator or transportation network company driver.\n5. A person who is first charged for a violation of subsection 1 and who has not purchased or otherwise acquired a child restraint system shall not be convicted if the person produces in court, within a reasonable time, proof that the person has purchased or otherwise acquired a child restraint system which meets federal motor vehicle safety standards.\n6. Failure to use a child restraint system, safety belts, or safety harnesses as required by this section does not constitute negligence nor is the failure admissible as evidence in a civil action.\n7. For purposes of this section, “child restraint system” means a specially designed seating system, including a belt-positioning seat or a booster seat, that meets federal motor vehicle safety standards set forth in 49 C.F.R. §571.213.","path":["Title VIII - TRANSPORTATION (Ch. 306 - 330B)","Chapter 321 - MOTOR VEHICLES AND LAW OF THE ROAD"],"source_url":"https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/2026/321.446.pdf","current_through":"Iowa Code 2026 edition","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T19:40:08Z","sha256":"7e2f889aadf671bdd6063a1f94270d258f9b3e8a0982c00b979c1ac1e2519348","source_id":"us-ia","stale":false,"prev":"us-ia/iowa-code-321.445","next":"us-ia/iowa-code-321.447"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}