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In accordance to the Public Act of on New Child Restraints, otherwise known as the Booster Seat Law, Michigan State requires parents to strap their children in car seats or booster seats depending on their age and height. This stratified system of seats has been implemented in order to decrease the likelihood of children incurring injury during an automobile accident. If a driver in the state of Michigan does not follow these guidelines, they could incur a $25 penalty for a civil infraction. Therefore, follow these instructions to avoid the fines and offer a greater amount of protection to your children in the car.

Michigan has a program called LATCH, which stands for The Lower Anchords and Tethers for Children. This program advocates attaching the car seat to two anchors, one above the seat and one below the seat where the cushions meet one another. Many forward-facing car seats have tethers for these essential latches, so the seat should only be secured merely by an old-fashioned safety belt as a last resort. In any case, it is best to consult the manual provided with the car safety seat to accurately determine how to properly lock it into place in the back seat.

Infants under the age of two in Michigan have to be strapped into a rear-facing car seat, positioned in the back seat of the vehicle. In actuality, a baby or toddler at this age should not be positioned in the front seat, but Michigan law does assert that if the parent had a full back seat of children in car seats, only then would the parent be permitted to have a rear-facing car seat in the front seat. Also, all passenger side airbags have to be disabled for the child's safety. The Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP) suggests to make sure the child's head is in a resting, reclined position and that the car seat has no slack more than one inch of wiggle room on either side. In addition, the harness should hold snug and the harness clip should be situated around armpit level on the child to avoid injury.

Michigan state law dictates that children between the ages of two and four should ride in a forward-facing car seat. Children between two and four are also susceptible to the same statutes as infants and will only be permitted in the front seat if the car does not have a back seat or all of the back seat spots are already occupied by other car seats. However, it is recommended to always position children in the back seat, as it is the safest part of the vehicle during a collision. Once again, the seat should not be able to displace more than one inch side to side, and the parent should check that the harness clip on the seat is around armpit level.