Car Seat Law in Guatemala (2026): There Isn't One — and the Reglamento Exempts Short Passengers From the Belt

In short: Guatemala publishes no child car-seat requirement. Chapter XI of the Reglamento de Tránsito (Acuerdo Gubernativo 273-98) runs from Article 91 to Article 94 and covers belts and helmets only. Worse for a visiting parent’s assumptions: Article 93 literal b) expressly exempts occupants shorter than 1.50 metres from the seat belt and prescribes nothing in its place, and Article 92 only requires belts to be fitted in the front seats. The Departamento de Tránsito nonetheless tells parents that under-8s should ride in a certified seat in the back — and in the same 2023 release said it was still “trabajan en la implementación de un Sistema de Retención Infantil, con el cual se busca reglamentar el uso obligatorio.” ONSET measured actual use at 3%. An absence of a mandate is not a safety finding; it is a legal one. This is general information, not legal, medical or safety advice.

If you are an American, Canadian, British or Australian parent, the question you are asking is “what does the law require, so I can comply.” The honest answer is that the law requires less than you expect, and the gap between what the law says and what the traffic authority publicly advises is the whole story. This page separates the two, quotes both, and tells you exactly where we looked.

The answer, in one paragraph

There is no child-restraint mandate in Guatemalan traffic law as published. We read the 208-page consolidated compendium the Departamento de Tránsito de la Dirección General de la Policía Nacional Civil publishes itself — the Ley de Tránsito Decreto 132-96 with its Decreto 84-2005 reform, the Reglamento de Tránsito Acuerdo Gubernativo 273-98 with reforms AG 259-2002, 460-2003, 105-2009, 129-2009, 289-2013, 395-2013, 35-2014, 135-2014 and Decreto 33-2024, plus the annexed Decretos 8-2014, 15-2014, 253-46, 45-2016, 11-2017 and Acuerdos Gubernativos 379-2010 and 38-2019. The strings “sistema de retención infantil”, “silla de seguridad”, “silla para niños”, “infantil” and “booster” appear in no normative article of any of them. The only occurrences of “silla” in normative text are wheelchairs and “animales de tiro, carga o silla.”

What the Reglamento actually says

Reglamento de Tránsito, Acuerdo Gubernativo 273-98, Título IV, CAPÍTULO XI — “CINTURONES, CASCOS Y OTROS ELEMENTOS DE SEGURIDAD.” The chapter is four articles long. Chapter XII begins immediately at Article 95 (“Comportamiento en accidentes y emergencias”), so there is no fifth article hiding below.

Article 91, verbatim:

“Los conductores de vehículos automotores y motobicicletas están obligados a utilizar los elementos de seguridad establecidos en éste capítulo, y serán responsables de que el resto de pasajeros los usen adecuadamente.”

That second clause is the one worth internalising. Whatever the rule turns out to be, the driver carries it for everyone in the vehicle.

Article 92, verbatim:

“Todo vehículo con cuatro ruedas o más tendrá cinturones de seguridad de dos o tres puntos de sujeción en los asientos delanteros. Si estos asientos estuvieren ocupados, es obligatorio utilizarlos, teniéndolos correctamente abrochados y tensados, según las especificaciones del fabricante.

Si el vehículo poseyera cinturones de seguridad en otros asientos, los ocupantes de éstos, estarán obligados a utilizarlos.”

Two consequences that matter more than the missing car-seat article:

1. Only front belts must exist. Article 14 of the same Reglamento, listing basic vehicle equipment, says the same thing: literal d) is “Cinturones de seguridad en los asientos delanteros.” A vehicle with no rear belts is fully compliant. (Article 14’s closing paragraph carves exactly one class out of that equipment list: “Se exceptúa de la presente disposición, los vehículos automotores calificados de colección, que podrán circular con los aditamentos que posea, siempre que estén registrados en el Departamento de Tránsito.” Not carrying the basic equipment is otherwise a Q200 fine under Article 181 numeral 4.)
2. Rear-belt use is conditional on the belts existing. “Si el vehículo poseyera” — if the vehicle happens to have them. There is no obligation to retrofit.

That is the single most useful fact on this page for a parent renting or borrowing a car: the rear bench you plan to install a seat on may legally have nothing to install it with, and no provision of the Reglamento de Tránsito requires ISOFIX or LATCH anchorages — Article 14’s basic-equipment list ends at front seat belts. That is the silence of traffic law, which is the only body of rules we searched here: vehicle-homologation, import and consumer-protection instruments were not read, so read this as a finding about the Reglamento — it does not require anchorages — and not as a finding that nothing in Guatemala does.

The 1.50-metre exemption, and why it matters more than the absence

Article 93, verbatim in full, because paraphrasing it would soften it:

“No obstante lo dispuesto en el artículo anterior, podrán circular sin cinturones de seguridad u otro elemento de retención autorizado: a) Los conductores al efectuar maniobras de retroceso o de estacionamiento. b) Los conductores y ocupantes cuya estatura sea inferior a 1.50 metros. c) Las mujeres embarazadas. d) Las personas provistas de un certificado de exención por razones médicas o en atención a su condición de disminuido físico. e) Motocicletas, vehículos agrícolas (tractores o similares); y, f) En caminos de terracería. La excepción alcanzará también cuando circule en varias urbanas, sin embargo no en autopistas ni en vías rápidas: 1) Los conductores de taxis cuando estén en servicio. 2) Los distribuidores de mercancías, cuando realicen sucesivas operaciones de carga y descarga en lugares situados a corta distancia uno de otros. 3) Los conductores y ocupantes de vehículos de emergencia; y, 4) El acompañante de un alumno o aprendiz poseedor del permiso de aprendizaje.”

Read literal b) carefully. It does not say that children under 1.50 m must use an approved child restraint instead. It says they may travel “sin cinturones de seguridad u otro elemento de retención autorizado” — without a belt or any other authorised restraint device. The Reglamento removes the requirement and puts nothing in its place.

Note also that the exemption is written by height, not by age, and it applies to occupants generally — so it is not limited to infants. Where the height threshold falls against any particular child’s age is a question the Reglamento does not answer and we are not going to answer for it; measure the child. Two more of the ten categories are worth a visiting family’s attention: f) “En caminos de terracería” — dirt roads, which is a large share of the driving people do on the Atitlán perimeter and in rural Alta Verapaz — and the taxi driver exemption, which is limited to urban roads and does not extend to motorways or vías rápidas.

What the absence does and does not mean

Being precise here matters, because “no law” gets misread in both directions.

What the enforcing authority tells parents

Here is the two-authorities-one-state problem in its clearest form: the body that enforces the Reglamento publicly instructs parents to do something the Reglamento does not require.

Departamento de Tránsito de la Dirección General de la Policía Nacional Civil, “Proteja a sus hijos de accidentes viales”, 1 August 2023. Verbatim:

“Los datos del Observatorio Nacional de Seguridad de Tránsito, (Onset), dan cuenta que de enero a junio fallecieron 11 niños de 0 a 12 años y 142 sufrieron lesiones, como consecuencia de diversos accidentes viales en el país.”

“El Departamento de Tránsito … le recuerda que todos los infantes menores de ocho años, deben utilizar una silla de seguridad especial, la cual debe ser acorde a su peso, edad y estatura, mientras que los infantes que pasen de esa edad tienen que usar el cinturón de seguridad.”

“El subjefe del Departamento de Tránsito, Julio Chaicoj, explica que con el propósito de reducir la siniestralidad en esa población, trabajan en la implementación de un Sistema de Retención Infantil, con el cual se busca reglamentar el uso obligatorio de la silla para la proteger la vida de los niños.”

“’Los menores de ocho años deben ir sentados en la parte trasera del vehículo, en los asientos de seguridad, los cuales tienen determinadas características técnicas para proteger la vida’, detalla.”

“Esos accesorios tienen que ser aprobados por entidades internacionales que certifican la calidad … las sillas infantiles cuentan con una vida útil de dos años, por lo que no es aconsejable comprar una usada, ya que debe ser adquirida de acuerdo al peso, talla y edad del niño.”

The verb deben in that release is doing advisory work, not regulatory work — and we know that because the same release says the Department is working to regulate mandatory use. A body does not announce that it is drafting a mandate it already holds.

The Department’s own Manual del Conductor, printed inside the same compendium as the Reglamento, uses the honest verb. In its section “Cinturones de Seguridad y Sillas para Niños”:

“Se recomienda que los niños menores de 8 años utilicen sillas de seguridad especiales acordes a su peso y estatura, los niños mayores de 8 años deberán hacer uso del cinturón de seguridad.”

Se recomienda for the child seat. Deberán for the belt. That single contrast, inside one sentence of the Department’s own manual, is the cleanest evidence on this page that the child seat is guidance and the belt is a rule.

The same manual states the driver’s exposure plainly — “El conductor asume la responsabilidad por todos los pasajeros que no utilicen el cinturón” — and, on why any of this matters, that the belt “aumenta hasta en un 70% la posibilidad de sobrevivir en un hecho de tránsito.”

The measurement: 3% of children

Guatemala did not just leave this unregulated; it measured it, and published the number.

In November 2023 the Departamento de Tránsito announced the study: “Con el apoyo de agentes de las Policías Municipales de Tránsito de 30 municipios … inició ayer el ‘Estudio por Observación sobre el Uso de Dispositivos de Seguridad Pasiva’. La investigación se desarrolla en dos líneas, en la primera los elementos policiales verifican que los conductores de vehículos livianos porten cinturón de seguridad y el Sistema de Retención Infantil, que es la silla donde deben viajar los niños menores de ocho años.” The analysis ran for three days.

The results were published on 16 May 2024, attributed to the Observatorio Nacional de Seguridad del Tránsito (ONSET) working with the Pan American Health Organization and 27 municipal traffic police forces, with the Department’s own framing: the study looked at passive-safety device use “así como el uso del Sistema de Retención Infantil, el cual es un tema poco conocido por la población en general.”

Source: Observatorio Nacional de Seguridad del Tránsito, published as infographics on the Departamento de Tránsito’s study page. The infographics do not publish a sample size, a municipality list, or a date range for the child-restraint panel, and that panel carries no year label — so we are not stating any. The belt panel is labelled “AÑO 2023”. The infographics also show a male/female split of the drivers and front passengers observed; that is the composition of the observed population, not a usage rate, and we are not presenting it as one.

The 19% front-passenger figure is the one to carry with you. It says that in the seat where a belt is legally mandatory and physically present, 81% of the front passengers ONSET observed were not using it. That is the ambient behaviour your children will be riding inside — in someone else’s car, in a taxi, on a school run.

ONSET’s authority to publish, for attribution: it “se constituye como el referente a nivel nacional de la información estadística en materia de siniestralidad vial, sustenta su actuación con el Acuerdo Ministerial 760-2014, emitido por el Ministerio de Gobernación y la Orden General 75-2014 emanada por la Dirección General de la Policía Nacional Civil, Ley y Reglamento de Tránsito.”

Independent corroboration

WHO’s Global Health Observatory reaches the same conclusion from outside, through its road-safety legislation indicators. Values for Guatemala, retrieved from the GHO API on 2026-08-13:

That pattern is exactly what the Reglamento’s text produces: a belt law that exists, a child-restraint law that does not, and an “all occupants” question WHO could not resolve — which is unsurprising, given that Article 92 makes rear-seat use conditional on the belts being fitted at all.

What can actually be fined

There is no child-seat offence. There are four adjacent offences that a family car can commit, and these are real.

Fine amounts and the discount table are published in the Departamento de Tránsito’s “Cartilla de infracciones y sanciones,” the discount footnoted “Según el artículo 189 del Reglamento de Tránsito”. The Reglamento’s own Título VI text matches. The 25% reduction applies only if the fine is paid within five working days of imposition; from the sixth working day the full amount plus 20% annual interest applies (Reglamento Art. 189). The Cartilla prints the reduced amounts with only a footnote to Article 189, so the right-hand column above is a conditional figure — not the amount payable if you let the deadline pass.

Note the clause we bolded in the belt offence. “Salvo los casos de excepción previstos en el presente reglamento” points straight back at Article 93 — so the Q200 belt fine cannot be applied to an occupant under 1.50 m in the first place. The offence and the exemption are wired together.

The occupancy rules that do bind a family car

These are the ones that actually get enforced at a Guatemalan checkpoint, and they are about how many and where, not about restraints.

Article 46 (as reformed by Article 1 of Acuerdo Gubernativo 395-2013):

“El número de personas transportadas en un vehículo no podrá ser superior al de las plazas autorizadas en la tarjeta de circulación.”

The same reformed article has a second paragraph aimed at municipalities, and it is worth quoting rather than paraphrasing because the consequence it names is discretionary, not automatic:

“Las Municipalidades a la cuales se les haya delegado la competencia de la administración de tránsito, están obligadas a dar cumplimiento a lo dispuesto en éste artículo en sus respectivas jurisdicciones, en caso de incumplimiento podrá darse por terminada dicha competencia.”

“Podrá” — may. The article names no actor, no procedure and no trigger beyond incumplimiento, and we are not going to supply any. And the Cartilla’s checkpoint list makes it item 8: “Que el vehículo no lleve sobrecarga de pasajeros (debe de llevar máximo las plazas que indica la tarjeta de circulación).”

Article 47, verbatim on the operative parts:

“Está prohibido transportar personas en emplazamientos distintos a los destinados y acondicionados para ello en el vehículo. No obstante, en los vehículos de transporte de mercancías o cosas podrán viajar personas en el lugar reservado a la carga, si se circula a una velocidad igual o inferior a cincuenta kilómetros por hora. … En las áreas donde no exista circulación de buses urbanos y extraurbanos, el transporte de personas podrá llevarse a cabo por medio de pick-ups en el lugar donde también se transporta carga, debiendo observar las siguientes condiciones: 1) Un máximo de 12 personas en pick-up de palangana corta; 2) Un máximo de 16 personas en pick-up de palangana larga; y, 3) Cada pick-up deberá estar provisto de barandas laterales o de cualquier otro medio de protección para los pasajeros.”

No provision in Article 47 distinguishes a child from an adult. That is the finding, and we are stating it as a finding rather than filling the gap: the pickup-bed rules are about headcount, speed and side rails.

There is one place in the annexed public-transport material of the same compendium where children are counted differently — “los menores de dos años no se contarán si no ocupan plaza y los menores de doce años se contarán como media plaza” — but that is a seat-capacity arithmetic rule in the public-transport provisions, not a safety rule, and it does not sit in Chapter XI.

Article 40 reaches passenger position, and it is worth separating the article’s words from the Department’s. The Manual del Conductor is where the commonly quoted phrasing comes from: “El artículo 40 del Reglamento de Tránsito indica que el conductor es responsable no solo de mantener una posición adecuada, sino de velar porque los pasajeros también tengan una posición adecuada.” The Manual then adds, in its own words rather than as a further gloss of Article 40, “El conductor también es responsable de velar que los pasajeros ocupen el número de plazas correspondientes según el tipo de vehículo.” Article 40’s own text says it differently: “Deberá cuidar especialmente de mantener la posición adecuada y que la mantengan el resto de los pasajeros, y la adecuada colocación de la carga transportada para que no haya interferencia entre el conductor y cualquiera de ellos.” Nothing in either sentence names a child, an age or a restraint.

What we searched, and what we could not reach

Rule one on this site is that silence gets published as silence, with the search named.

Searched and found nothing on child restraints:

• The full 208-page DGT compendium: Ley de Tránsito Decreto 132-96 (Arts. 1–50) + Reglamento AG 273-98 with every listed reform through Decreto 33-2024 + the annexed Decretos 8-2014, 15-2014, 253-46, 45-2016, 11-2017 and AG 379-2010, 38-2019. Reform check performed: Articles 91–94 carry no reform footnote in the consolidated text, so they stand as originally issued in AG 273-98.
• Decreto 45-2016, Ley para el Fortalecimiento de la Seguridad Vial — read in full. Its subject is the speed limiter for collective passenger and cargo transport — Article 2 literal a) sets “un límite máximo de velocidad de hasta ochenta (80) kilómetros por hora” — and Article 10, which adds Ley Article 40 bis, the licence retention and suspension regime for driving under the influence of alcohol. No child-restraint provision.
• Decreto 11-2017 — read in full. It reforms Decreto 45-2016 and the Ley’s professional/semiprofessional licence literals (Ley Article 14 literals i) and j)), and also reaches Penal Code Article 158 Bis. Nothing on restraints.
• Decreto 33-2024 — read in full. Digital vehicle documents, fine notification and prescription, document-retention prohibition. Nothing on restraints.
• The Departamento de Tránsito’s own Cartilla de infracciones y sanciones — the complete fine schedule, Articles 181 to 185, plus the operativo checklist. No child-restraint item.
• transito.gob.gt site search for “retención infantil”, “sistema de retención” and “silla para niños”, run on 2026-08-13. The only results are the three pages cited on this page: the August 2023 parents release, the November 2023 study announcement, and the May 2024 results. No draft acuerdo, no public consultation document, no enactment.

Could not reach, and therefore neither asserted nor denied: EMETRA and the Municipalidad de Guatemala (emetra.muniguate.com, muniguate.com) returned HTTP 403 on 2026-08-13 through every rung we climbed — a bare request, a request with a browser user-agent and referer, a TLS-impersonating client, the r.jina.ai text proxy, and the Internet Archive. So we cannot tell you whether the capital has a municipal ordinance on child restraints. What we can tell you is that municipal traffic authority is real and delegated: Guatemala’s PMT operates under Acuerdo Gubernativo 67-1998 and Antigua Guatemala’s under Acuerdo Gubernativo 399-2008, from the Department’s published list of 80 authorised municipal forces. If a municipality has legislated here, that is where it would sit.

What a visiting parent should actually do with all this

Not advice about your child’s safety — that is between you, your paediatrician and the manufacturer of whatever seat you own. Four logistical decisions this research changes:

1. Do not plan a car seat around the rear seat existing as you expect. Article 92 requires front belts only. Before you carry a seat across a border, confirm the specific vehicle has rear belts, and a belt path or anchors compatible with your seat.
2. Do not expect a checkpoint to help. The passive-safety item officers are given is “casco para motocicletas, cinturón para los otros tipos de vehículos” — the published checkpoint checklist has no child-restraint item at all. We hold no source on how officers behave in practice, and we are not going to guess one.
3. Decide before you leave whether you are bringing a seat — and confirm the rest in writing. The legal position we can source is only this: the Reglamento imposes no child-restraint duty, so no traffic-law provision requires a rental agency to supply a seat. We did not research rental-sector rules or any agency’s terms, so we will not tell you what is available, what it costs or what condition it is in; ask the agency directly and get the answer in writing. Our rental insurance guide covers what we have sourced on the Guatemalan rental side. The Department’s own published guidance is that seats need international certification and have a two-year useful life, and that buying used is not advisable.
4. Read the 19% number as the real risk, not the missing statute. In the seat where the belt is legally required and physically present, 81% of observed front passengers were not using it. If you are being driven, the belt beside you is the decision you actually control. The route-specific hazards are on our driving safety page, and whether to drive at all is on do you need a car in Guatemala.

Driving on a foreign licence while you are here? The validity rule is not the 30 days everyone repeats — it is tied to your migratory status under Article 24 of the same Reglamento, which we cover on the US driver’s licence page.

Frequently asked questions

Does Guatemala have a car seat law? No child-restraint mandate is published. Chapter XI of the Reglamento de Tránsito is Articles 91–94 — belts and helmets — and none of them mentions a child seat.

Does my child legally need a seat belt? Article 93 literal b) exempts “los conductores y ocupantes cuya estatura sea inferior a 1.50 metros” from the belt “u otro elemento de retención autorizado”, with no substitute prescribed.

Is there a fine for not using a car seat? None found in Articles 181–185 or in the Department’s Cartilla. The nearest offence, the Q200 belt fine under Article 181 numeral 34, is expressly subject to the Article 93 exceptions.

Must rear belts be fitted? No. Article 92 requires belts in the front seats; rear-seat use is mandatory only “si el vehículo poseyera cinturones de seguridad en otros asientos.”

What does the Departamento de Tránsito advise? That under-8s should use a certified seat matched to weight, age and height, seated in the rear — while stating in the same 2023 release that it was working to regulate mandatory use.

How many Guatemalan children ride in a seat? 3% Sí, 97% No, per the ONSET infographic published on the Department’s study page.

Children in a pickup bed? Article 47 sets headcount, speed and side-rail conditions and draws no distinction between children and adults.

A child on a motorcycle? No age or height provision found. Article 94 requires the helmet for rider or passenger without reference to age.

Does WHO agree there is no law? Yes — GHO indicator RS_213 records Guatemala as “No” for a national child-restraint law, 2017 assessment, alongside “Yes” for a national seat-belt law.

Is a mandate coming? The Department said in 2023 it was working on one. We found no draft, consultation or enactment published as of 2026-08-13, and we are not going to guess at a date.

Sources

• Reglamento de Tránsito, Acuerdo Gubernativo No. 273-98, consolidated with reforms AG 259-2002, 460-2003, 105-2009, 129-2009, 289-2013, 395-2013, 35-2014, 135-2014 and Decreto 33-2024. Articles cited: 14, 40, 46, 47, 48, 48 TER, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 181, 184, 185, 189. Published by the Departamento de Tránsito de la Dirección General de la Policía Nacional Civil in its “Ley de Tránsito y su Reglamento” compendium (208 pp), linked from https://transito.gob.gt/legislacion-en-materia-de-transito/. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
• Ley de Tránsito, Decreto No. 132-96 del Congreso de la República (Arts. 1–50, with the Decreto 84-2005 reform), same compendium — searched in full; contains no provision on seat belts, helmets or child restraints. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
• Manual del Conductor, Departamento de Tránsito de la PNC, section “Cinturones de Seguridad y Sillas para Niños”, printed inside the same compendium. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
• Decreto No. 45-2016, “Ley para el Fortalecimiento de la Seguridad Vial”, https://transito.gob.gt/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DECRETO-45-2016-Ley-para-el-Fortalecimiento-de-la-Seguirdad-Vial.pdf — read in full; no child-restraint provision. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
• Decreto No. 11-2017, “Reformas a la Ley para el Fortalecimiento de la Seguridad Vial, sobre las licencias de conducir”, https://transito.gob.gt/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DECRETO-11-2017-Reformas-a-la-Ley-para-el-Fortalecimiento-de-la-Seguirdad-Vial-sobre-las-licencias-de-conducir..pdf — read in full; no child-restraint provision. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
• Departamento de Tránsito de la PNC, “Cartilla de infracciones y sanciones”, https://transito.gob.gt/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CARTILLA-DE-INFRACCIONES-Y-SANCIONES.pdf, linked from https://transito.gob.gt/documentos-de-seguridad-vial/ — the operativo verification list, the fine schedule for Articles 181–185, and the Article 189 discount table. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
• Departamento de Tránsito de la PNC, “Proteja a sus hijos de accidentes viales”, dated 1 August 2023, https://transito.gob.gt/proteja-a-sus-hijos-de-accidentes-viales/ — the ONSET January–June child casualty figures, the under-8 seat instruction, the statement by deputy chief Julio Chaicoj that the Department was working to regulate mandatory use, the rear-seat instruction, the international certification point and the two-year useful life. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
• Departamento de Tránsito de la PNC, “Inicia estudio por observación sobre dispositivos de seguridad”, dated 9 November 2023, https://transito.gob.gt/inicia-estudio-por-observacion-sobre-dispositivos-de-seguridad/ — 30 municipalities, the two lines of observation, the three-day analysis. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
• Departamento de Tránsito de la PNC, “Estudio de observación dirigido a pilotos y pasajeros de vehículos de 2 y 4 ruedas”, dated 16 May 2024, https://transito.gob.gt/estudio-de-observacion-dirigido-a-pilotos-y-pasajeros-de-vehiculos-de-2-y-4-ruedas/ — ONSET with the Pan American Health Organization and 27 municipal traffic police forces, and the “tema poco conocido” framing. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
• ONSET infographic “USO DEL SISTEMA DE RETENCIÓN INFANTIL EN GUATEMALA”, https://transito.gob.gt/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Infografia-sillones-de-bebe.png — 3% Sí / 97% No, “Fuente: Observatorio Nacional de Seguridad del Tránsito.” Retrieved and read 2026-08-13.
• ONSET infographic “RESULTADOS DEL ESTUDIO POR OBSERVACIÓN DEL USO DEL CINTURÓN DE SEGURIDAD EN GUATEMALA_AÑO 2023”, https://transito.gob.gt/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Infografia-cinturon.jpg — driver 74% Sí / 26% No; front passenger 19% Sí / 81% No. Retrieved and read 2026-08-13.
• Departamento de Tránsito de la PNC, “Onset”, https://transito.gob.gt/onset-3/ — ONSET’s mandate under Acuerdo Ministerial 760-2014 and Orden General 75-2014. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
• Departamento de Tránsito de la PNC, “Listado de Policías Municipales de Tránsito con Acuerdo Gubernativo”, https://transito.gob.gt/listado-de-policias-municipales-de-transito-con-acuerdo-gubernativo/ (page dated 29 September 2023) — 80 authorised municipal forces, including Guatemala under AG 67-1998 and Antigua Guatemala under AG 399-2008. Retrieved 2026-08-13.
• World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory OData API — indicators RS_213 (existence of a national child-restraint law), RS_209 (existence of a national seat-belt law), RS_210 (applicability of seat-belt law to all occupants), RS_198 (estimated road traffic death rate) and RS_196 (estimated number of road traffic deaths), filtered to Guatemala (GTM). https://ghoapi.azureedge.net/api/RS_213. Retrieved 2026-08-13.

Deliberately not sourced, because we could not reach the publisher: any EMETRA or Municipalidad de Guatemala municipal ordinance on child restraints. emetra.muniguate.com and muniguate.com returned HTTP 403 on 2026-08-13 through a bare request, a browser user-agent with referer, a TLS-impersonating client, the r.jina.ai proxy and the Internet Archive. Also not sourced: child-seat retail prices in Guatemala, the import duty on a child seat, and the sample size, municipality list or date range of the ONSET child-restraint panel — none of which is published on the infographic.

General information for drivers and families in Guatemala, current as of 2026-08-13. Traffic rules are set by the Departamento de Tránsito de la Dirección General de la Policía Nacional Civil under MINGOB and can change; municipal Policías Municipales de Tránsito enforce in the municipalities authorised by acuerdo gubernativo. This page reports the published rule and the authority that published it. It is not legal, medical or child-safety advice — for how to choose, fit and use a restraint, follow the manufacturer’s instructions and your paediatrician. En español: Ley de sillas para niños en Guatemala.