04-04-2025
California bill would increase age to ride shotgun up to 16, remove height requirements
MODESTO – A California assembly bill is looking to limit teens' ability to ride shotgun by increasing the age to 16.
The bill was advanced by the Assembly Transportation Committee last week.
Right now in California, children 8 years old and over or at least 4'9" can ride in the passenger seat and remove the height requirement.
"So the best thing to do to keep your child safe while riding in a vehicle matches what our law is," said Assemblymember Lori Wilson, the author behind
Assembly Bill 435
.
Wilson said the bill is about safety.
"It really is to take into consideration all the varying types of seats that we sit on in the car," Wilson said.
The height requirement would be replaced with a five-point test.
This would mean making sure the child's back can touch the back of the seat comfortably and their knees are properly over the seat. Then the lower half of the seatbelt needs to touch the hips, not the stomach, and the shoulder strap needs to touch the chest, not the neck. And lastly, that the child can maintain this position without straining or slouching.
"It's where the seatbelt sits," Wilson said. "And so some cars are equipped with adjustments for a seatbelt."
Wilson said just because a child fails the test in one vehicle doesn't mean they won't pass it in another.
However, the bill states that children 13 and under who fail the test need to use a booster seat.
But Modesto Junior College students say the bill isn't adding up.
"How is this properly enforceable? Unless we are going to start pulling people aside who look short," a student said.
"I think it's strange," another student said. "Mostly because there are already all these protections to make sure minors are protected and get their licenses safe."
"This is about safety," Wilson said. "This is about making sure that if something happens, you are safe, and I think that's the key thing that we're trying to drive home is that it is not about treating people like babies."
Wilson said they may change the age to 13 years old instead of 16. But this bill still has a long way to go.
The bill did pass out of the Assembly Transportation Committee and goes to appropriations next. But it's not clear yet when that will happen.
