Georgia vs South Carolina

The coastal I-95 stretch between Savannah and Charleston crosses from Georgia into South Carolina, and South Carolina is the stricter of the two. The two states match on the booster and the back seat: both keep a child in a car seat or booster until age 8 or 4 feet 9 inches, and both require children under 8 to ride in the back seat. The difference is rear-facing. South Carolina requires a child under 2 to ride rear-facing; Georgia sets no rear-facing age. That single rule makes South Carolina the more protective of the two.

South Carolina requires a child under 2 to ride rear-facing in the back seat, then progresses through a forward-facing harness and a booster. Georgia's law does not name a rear-facing age; it defines the requirement by age and height (a car seat or booster under 8 and under 4 feet 9 inches). So a parent who turns a 15-month-old forward is breaking the law in South Carolina but not in Georgia. Pediatricians recommend rear-facing as long as the seat allows in both states, so South Carolina simply makes the best practice a legal requirement for the under-2 group.

After age 2 the two states line up. Both require a car seat or booster until age 8 or 4 feet 9 inches, and both require a child under 8 to ride in the back seat where one is available. So for a school-age child, the move across the Georgia-South Carolina line changes nothing about the seat or where the child sits. The only difference that matters is the rear-facing rule for the youngest.

Georgia sets a $50 fine for a first offense (up to $100 for a second). South Carolina's penalty runs up to about $150 but does not fix a single first-offense figure in the same way. The fines are in a similar range, so the comparison comes down to rear-facing, which favors South Carolina. On an I-95 trip, the booster and back-seat rules already line up, so keeping any child under 2 rear-facing is all it takes to satisfy the law on either side of the state line.