Overview

• House Bill 586 is now in force across Montana, authored and sponsored by Rep. Marc Lee, a firefighter from Butte.
• The law requires rear-facing seats for children under 2; child seats with an internal harness for ages 2 to 4; forward-facing seats or boosters for ages 4 to 8, with boosters permitted at 40 pounds; and an adult seat belt at age 9 or after outgrowing prior limits.
• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that roughly half of car seats are installed incorrectly and that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children in the United States.
• Bozeman Fire regularly conducts car seat checkup events, and Deputy Chief Fire Marshal Scott Mueller recommends keeping children in a five-point harness as long as possible to better distribute crash forces.
• Proper child restraint use can reduce the risk of fatal injuries by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers, according to federal data.