Maryland vs Virginia

Maryland and Virginia are both strict states, and for the youngest children they are identical: both require a child under 2 to ride rear-facing. The two diverge on the booster and the back seat. Virginia keeps a child in a child restraint until age 8 with no height shortcut and requires that restraint to be in the back seat through age 8. Maryland lets a child move to a seat belt at age 8 or once they reach 4 feet 9 inches and has no back-seat requirement. Those two differences make Virginia slightly stricter overall, even though Maryland is the only one of the two with a fixed fine.

Both states require a child under 2 to ride rear-facing until they reach the seat's limit, and both write a forward-facing stage into the law after that. So a family moving between Maryland and Virginia does not have to change anything for an infant or toddler. Pediatricians recommend rear-facing as long as the seat allows in both.

This is the real difference. Virginia requires a child to stay in a child restraint until age 8 with no 4 feet 9 inch shortcut, and the restraint must be in the back seat. Maryland releases a child at age 8 or once they reach 4 feet 9 inches, whichever comes first, and does not require the back seat. So a tall 7 year old can move to a seat belt in Maryland but must stay in a booster, in the back, in Virginia. For most school-age children the practical effect is that Virginia keeps them in a booster a little longer and keeps them out of the front seat.

Maryland sets a $50 fine for a violation. Virginia enforces its rule but does not set the same single fixed figure in the restraint statute. The law that applies is the law of the state you are driving in. For a DMV-area family crossing between Maryland and Virginia, the safe default is Virginia's stricter standard: rear-facing under 2, a booster until age 8, and the back seat through age 8. Hold to that and you are covered no matter which side of the river you are on.