Alabama vs Mississippi

These two neighbors both run relatively light child restraint laws by national standards, and they trade strengths. Alabama is the only one of the pair to put the youngest stages into statute: rear-facing until at least age 1 or 20 pounds, then a forward-facing harness until at least age 5 or 40 pounds. Mississippi names no rear-facing age and no harness age; its required seat simply applies to a child under 4. Mississippi's edge comes later, where it keeps a child in a booster until age 7, a year past Alabama's age 6. Add up the rules and Alabama is the marginally stricter state, because its rear-facing and harness requirements carry more weight than Mississippi's one extra booster year.

Alabama requires an infant to ride rear-facing until at least 1 year or 20 pounds, then to stay in a forward-facing seat with an internal harness until at least 5 years or 40 pounds. A parent can be cited for turning an infant forward early or dropping the harness too soon. Mississippi requires only that a child under 4 be in a child passenger restraint that meets federal standards, with the direction and harness left to the parent and seat manufacturer. Both states recommend rear-facing as long as the seat allows, but only Alabama makes the early stages law.

Mississippi keeps a child in a belt-positioning booster until age 7, or until they are both 4 feet 9 inches and 65 pounds. Alabama ends the booster at age 6 with no height or weight test. So a 6-year-old who is small for their age is done with the booster in Alabama but still needs one in Mississippi. Both states fall short of the American Academy of Pediatrics guidance, which is to keep a child in a booster until the seat belt fits, usually near 4 feet 9 inches and between ages 8 and 12. Neither state requires children to ride in the back seat.

Alabama states a flat $25 fine that can be dismissed with proof of buying a restraint, with part of the fine funding car seat vouchers for low-income families. Mississippi sets its requirement in one section and its fine in another, so the penalty is less visible on the page. The law that applies is the law of the state you are driving in. Alabama and Mississippi meet along I-20 and I-59 between Tuscaloosa and Meridian and along I-10 on the Gulf Coast between Mobile and Biloxi. To stay legal across the whole trip, combine each state's stricter rule: keep an infant rear-facing to age 1 and harnessed to age 5 (Alabama), and keep a child in a booster until age 7 (Mississippi).