Temecula's Assemblyman Denounces New Car Seat Law

The assemblyman representing parts of Temecula denounced a new law that requires children to stay in a car seat for two years longer.

It went into effect on Jan. 1 and requires children to ride in a car seat until they are 8 years old or 4 feet, 9 inches tall.

The law overreaches the government's bounds, said Brian Nestande (R-Palm Desert), the state assemblyman for which includes parts of unincorporated Temecula, Wine Country and Winchester.

He got the idea from a contest he held called "There Ought Not to Be a Law," where he asks his constituents to tell him about a law they think should be repealed.

A Moreno Valley father suggested the car seat law be repealed, and Nestande wrote a bill -- called AB 2585 -- that would restore the age children are allowed to ride without a car seat to 6 years.

"This is just a straight repeal of what we think is an overreach of state government," he told the North County Times.