Canadian families preparing for inter-provincial road trips this summer may not be aware of B.C.'s new laws governing car and booster seats for children, which take effect Tuesday.

The new provincial law states children under nine years who are shorter than 4'9 must ride in a booster seat while in a vehicle. If violated, the driver faces a fine of $109, regardless of which province they have driven from.

The new law could be causing confusion for families from outside the province, like the Klemens, who often cross the provincial border to holiday in Kimberley, B.C.

Angie Klemens' son seven-year-old Kael no longer uses a booster seat, she says, but her other two sons still do.

Klemens had no idea the new law was already in effect.

"If I were to go into B.C. July 1st and get a ticket for my one son, then I would probably not be too happy," she said. "I have friends and family who go to B.C. and they hadn't heard anything, either."

For details on the legislation, see the car seat and booster seat legislation chart.

B.C. MLA for Port Moody-Westwood Ian Black, who is responsible for implementing the new law, says he can understand why a family from any other province might find it confusing to take a road trip through multiple provinces but believes others should follow B.C.'s lead.

"We said we should set the standard in B.C., (and) we do so in many areas, (so) let's do it in child safety as well," he said.

But several experts across the country say there is no evidence to suggest B.C.'s legislation is necessarily better -- and the concern is that the range of different laws does send a mixed message to parents.

"People just tune out," said Renald Marchand, general manager of the Canada Safety Council. "I just wish the regulators would get together and harmonize this thing so that a parent doesn't get surprised as to what's going on. I don't understand it."

Even seven-year-old Kael is confused because he is forced to get back into the booster seat he thought he had outgrown.

"He needs a booster seat, he needs a booster seat, now I need a booster seat," Kael said of his brothers. "We don't have three booster seats, though."

Klemens says she plans to buy a third booster seat to avoid being fined during her B.C. holiday.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Sarah Galashan