At What Age Can Kids Sit in the Front Seat of a Car in NYC?

It depends on who you ask. Technically, NYC law allows children to sit in the front seat at age 12. However, the standard of care in this area, as established by the New York Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, is age 13. Front seat passenger age is one example of the difference between a minimum safety law and a maximum duty of care.

The speed limit is another example. The posted speed limit is a presumptively reasonable speed under ideal traffic, weather, and road conditions. If traffic is heavy, the weather is bad, or the road is in disrepair, the duty of care requires motorists to slow down. What’s sufficient to protect your child or your family, the minimum safety law or the maximum duty of care?

Passenger Injuries

Before we discuss the legal issues involved in matters like where children should sit in a car, we should address some critical emotional issues in these cases.

Injured passengers often sustain the same wounds as injured drivers. Therefore, these people have the same legal and financial rights. However, many passengers don’t assert these rights, mostly because they don’t want to “blame” the driver for an “accident.” 

That’s especially true in child passenger injury claims, since the adult tortfeasor (negligent driver) is almost always a parent or another trusted caregiver.

Criminal cases assess blame and, in most cases, don’t compensate victims. Civil courts, on the other hand, determine liability as opposed to guilt. These courts also fully compensate victims. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.

Driver error causes over 94 percent of vehicle collisions according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Passengers and Personal Protection

Self-protection, such as sitting in the correct palace or, more commonly, wearing a seat belt, could affect the amount of compensation in a personal injury claim.

Sometimes, these two areas overlap. Children under eight must sit in the back seat and ride in an age-appropriate and properly secured safety seat. If a child victim was in the wrong place, the wrong kind of safety seat, or an improperly secured seat, New York’s version of the seat belt defense could apply.

This defense is very complex in New York. Failure to wear a seat belt does not affect legal responsibility issues. However, this failure could reduce the amount of compensation the victim receives if the insurance company proves the failure to wear a seat belt, as opposed to the tortfeasor’s negligence, substantially caused injury.

It’s well-established that seat belts prevent ejection. So, the seat belt defense usually only applies in ejection cases. If the victim remained in the vehicle, regardless of the seriousness of the injuries, the seat belt defense usually does not apply.

Children in the Civil Legal System

The law protects all passengers in vehicle collisions, and the law extends special protection to vulnerable victims, such as children.

Especially if a child was very young and/or the only injured victim, the judge usually appoints an attorney ad litem. This attorney is like a personal injury lawyer with limited power who represents the child. The ad litem investigates the facts, speaks for the child at any hearings, and approves the final settlement.

Many judges go the extra mile and make other accommodations. For example, to reduce the intimidation factor, a judge might hold court proceedings in a more informal setting, like a conference room.

On a related note, the law also extends special protection to other vulnerable victims, such as people with pre-existing medical conditions. Frequently, car crashes and other incidents aggravate old injuries, like a bad knee. Maximum compensation is available if a personal injury lawyer proves the accident aggravated the pre-existing condition, and not the other way around.

Injury victims, regardless of age or other status, are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an with an experienced personal injury lawyer, contact Napoli Shkolnik.