Federal government launches campaign to protect kids from counterfeit car seats
H.R. 7679 — CAR SEAT Act · Filed by Laura Gillen (D-NY) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 25, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires the Secretary of Transportation to launch a public education campaign warning parents and caregivers about counterfeit and noncompliant child car seats and booster seats that fail federal safety standards, and to teach people how to identify and avoid them. It authorizes $1.5 million for the campaign and adds this education work to the list of approved highway safety programs.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a federally funded public awareness campaign on counterfeit child restraints and methods to identify them. It is a straightforward public-health information initiative with no private carve-outs or hidden riders.
What the text implies
- Campaign may indirectly increase demand for compliant car seats by raising awareness of counterfeits, potentially benefiting legitimate manufacturers, though this is a secondary market effect of the public-safety goal.
- Federal education campaign may expose gaps in state/local enforcement of child restraint regulations, potentially prompting follow-up legislative or regulatory action.
- Campaign messaging and reach will depend on DOT's implementation choices (media channels, languages, target populations), which are not specified in the bill and could affect effectiveness.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Parents and caregivers gain critical information to protect children from dangerous counterfeit car seats, reducing injury and death risk. The bill imposes no restrictions on citizens' rights or remedies; it is purely informational and protective.
Named in the bill
Secretary of Transportation, Department of Transportation, 49 CFR 571.213, 49 CFR 571.213b, 23 U.S.C. Section 402
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 3 Republicans.
- Feb 25, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 25, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce and House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,255 characters) on Aug 24, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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