ST. LOUIS – Planning a summer road trip? If you’re hitting the road in a motorhome, you might be curious about the seatbelt regulations concerning children riding in the back.
Missouri:
In Missouri, if a child is required to use a car seat in a regular vehicle, the same rule applies in a motorhome. Children under four years old or weighing less than 40 pounds must be in an appropriate safety seat by law.
For kids aged four to seven who weigh at least 40 pounds, they must be in an appropriate car seat or booster seat until they reach 80 pounds or 4’0” tall.
Those eight and older, weighing at least 80 pounds, or measuring at least 4’9” tall are required to be secured by a safety belt or buckled into a suitable booster seat. These regulations remain consistent even when a child is riding in a motorhome.
All riders in a motorhome must be wearing a seatbelt when the vehicle is in motion.
Illinois:
In Illinois, all drivers and passengers, regardless of where they are sitting in the RV, aged eight and older must wear a seatbelt. Children under eight years old must be placed in the appropriate child seat based on their height and weight.
Illinois introduced the “Click It or Ticket” campaign, altering its primary safety belt law in July 2003. This law grants police the authority to stop vehicles and issue tickets to unbuckled occupants. Which is why police will enforce everyone in the motorhome to wear a seatbelt.