Headed out for a drive with the kids? Here are some child safety laws to know in California

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- The road is a dangerous place, especially for children in vehicles.

California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt on Wednesday stopped by the FOX 5 studio to discuss child safety traffic laws as kids head back to school.

All children under the age of eight must be secured in a car seat or booster seat in the back seat, according to California state law.

For children under the age of two, they need to be in a rear-facing car seat secured in a manner that complies with the height and weight limits specified by the car seat's manufacturer, California law states. However, this doesn't apply to children under the age of two who weigh 40 or more pounds or are 40 or more inches tall.

"You don't want the seatbelt to be around the child's neck, you want them to be secure in that seat," Bettencourt said. "And also parents need to use that parental discretion to really if their child is on the smaller side, to ensure that maybe they need to stay in that seat a little longer."

Bettencourt explained that children must be in rear-facing position until they are two years old or up to 40 pounds.

"It's important that you look at the manufacturer seat specifications when you install them in your car and you make sure that they comply with that. Your child still fits properly in that seat because that's a common mistake we find too is that the kids are too big for the seats," the CHP officer said.

Once children reach the age of eight or are four feet and nine inches in height, they may be secured by a booster seat, but at a minimum must be secured by a safety belt, per the state law.

So when can kids sit in the front seat? CHP recommends for kids not to sit in the front seat until they are 12 years old.

"Their body is not strong enough to withstand the impact of that airbag, an airbag deploys at over 200 mph and their little bodies just can't take it sometimes, so we recommend that they try to stay in those backseats as long as possible," Bettencourt said.

Most of the time citations aren't given out, Bettencourt added, as a lot of CHP officers are child seat technicians and want to educate the parents.

"We're certified in installing them properly, making sure that those kids are in the right seat. So if at any time we see an instance where a kid is not in the proper seat, we actually have seats that we can provide to those families to ensure that that kid travels safely," he said.

For more information, visit Safe Kids Worldwide or contact a local CHP office.