Hilary Duff's Daughter 3-Yr-Old Banks Cruising, No Car Seat ... With 'Younger' Costar

Hilary Duff's daughter looked fairly insecure while rolling in the back of a car with her mom's old costar -- which is fueling a lot of anger over what many perceive as an unsafe ride.

Three-year-old Banks Bair was featured in a video posted by actress Molly Bernard, who once starred opposite HD in the show "Younger" a few years back ... and who apparently had Hilary's kid for the day for some sorta playdate.

Right off the bat, fans noticed an apparent problem -- Banks sitting in the back of a car, without any visible car seat or restraint on her. The 3-point harness is behind her in the video, but that, of course, is only intended for older kids and adults.

The law in California for car seats is pretty simple ... any child under 2 has to be in a car seat -- a rear-facing one at that -- until they're either 40 lbs. or more, or 40 inches or taller. Banks is 3, so the rear-facing part wouldn't apply here.

However, she's still under 8 and not tall enough yet -- so, Banks would have to be in a belt-positioning booster seat or car seat ... and there's no such restraint in the video. Hilary is catching flak as a result. Molly too -- but it's mostly folks mom-shaming Hilary for allowing such an unsafe practice with her own daughter.

Thankfully, everything seems to have turned out just fine -- as Molly posted other photos of Banks from their time together. Still, definitely a wake-up call for next time.

Click here for info about our online advertising practices.