If you're five years old or younger, first off, bravo on taking the initiative to look up child passenger safety laws. You're ahead of the curve. 

And second: Mom, Dad, brother, sister, guardian, or babysitter needs to fasten you into a child passenger restraint system, and you need to be traveling in the back seat of any vehicle you enter. This shouldn't involve a ball of twine and a roll of duct tape. Make sure your restraint system is federally approved. It should have straps and buckles and whatnot.

There are only a few exceptions concerning the ride-in-the-back rule. You may ride up front under any of the following conditions:

1. There is no back seat, or there are only side-facing or rear-facing seats. If this is the case, pull your parents aside at some point and try talking them into purchasing a normal car. They don't always have to be so "different."
2. The restraint system into which your parents are attempting to fit you can't for some reason be installed in the back seat. Once again, this is probably a result of your parents having purchased some newfangled restraint system in order to impress the Monaghans.
3. Children under the age of six already occupy all of the back seats.
4. You have a medical reason for riding in the front seat. You'll need a note from your doctor, and it better not be written in crayon, kiddo.
5. All of your toys are kept in the glove compartment. How are you going to recreate the International Space Station if you can't reach the LEGOs?

Also note that air bags, when deployed, can be injurious to very young children. For this reason, little ones shouldn't ride in the front seat of an airbag-equipped vehicle. They also shouldn't be packed into the front seat with Styrofoam peanuts.