Child restraint by age and weight — Tennessee Permit Test

Child restraint by age and weight on the Tennessee permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

A child under 1 year old, or any child under 20 pounds, must ride in a rear-facing car seat.

A baby's neck is too weak to hold its head in a crash. Facing the rear, the seat back takes the hit.

A child under one year old, or any child weighing less than 20 pounds, must be in a child passenger restraint system (car seat) that is facing the rear of the car.

Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, p.31

Children 1 through 3 years old who weigh more than 20 pounds must ride in a forward-facing car seat.

A toddler is too small for an adult belt, which would cross the neck instead of the chest.

Children who are one through three years old, and who weigh more than 20 pounds, must be in a child passenger restraint system that is facing forward.

Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, p.31

Children 4 through 8 years old who are under 4 feet 9 inches tall must ride in a belt-positioning booster seat and wear a seat belt.

On a short child an adult belt rides up over the stomach and neck, where it can do harm in a crash.

Children who are four through eight years old and whose height is under four feet, nine inches, must be in a belt positioning booster seat system (child booster car seat) and wearing a seatbelt.

Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, p.31

Children in booster seats must ride in the back seat if the vehicle has one.

The front seat puts a small child right in the path of the air bag.

Children in booster seats must be in the back seat of a vehicle, if the vehicle has a back seat.

Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, p.31

All car seats and booster seats must meet federal motor vehicle safety standards and be used as the seat maker and the vehicle maker instruct.

A seat put in the wrong way can come loose in a crash and fail the child it was bought to protect.

All child passenger restraint systems (car seats and booster seats) referenced above must meet federal motor vehicle safety standards and be used consistently with the manufacturer’s and the vehicle’s instructions.

Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, p.31

On the test

A child under 1 year old must ride in what kind of car seat?

A rear-facing car seat. A baby's neck is too weak to hold its head in a crash. Facing the rear, the seat back takes the hit. Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, p.31: “A child under one year old, or any child weighing less than 20 pounds, must be in a child passenger restraint system (car seat) that is facing the rear of the car.”

How this works

Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.

You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.

Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.

What it costs

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, published by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-03.