Bill Text: FL S0690 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Prevention of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2024-03-08 - Died in Transportation [S0690 Detail]

Download: Florida-2024-S0690-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 690
       
       
        
       By Senator Thompson
       
       
       
       
       
       15-00297B-24                                           2024690__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to prevention of pediatric vehicular
    3         heatstroke; providing a short title; creating s.
    4         316.2226, F.S.; defining the term “motor vehicle”;
    5         requiring, by a specified date, that certain motor
    6         vehicles be equipped with an alarm system that prompts
    7         the driver to inspect the motor vehicle for unattended
    8         occupants before exiting; providing penalties;
    9         requiring, by a specified date, the Department of
   10         Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to initiate a public
   11         awareness campaign regarding such alarm systems;
   12         requiring the department to adopt by rule minimum
   13         standards for such systems and to maintain a list of
   14         approved alarm manufacturers and alarm systems;
   15         amending s. 402.305, F.S.; revising transportation
   16         safety minimum standards for the licensure of child
   17         care facilities; providing an effective date.
   18  
   19         WHEREAS, children left unattended in vehicles or who
   20  independently access unoccupied vehicles are a significant
   21  public health and safety problem, and
   22         WHEREAS, millions of children are transported every day in
   23  the back seat of vehicles and are at risk of being inadvertently
   24  left inside the vehicle, which may result in their death or
   25  serious injury as the result of heat stroke, and
   26         WHEREAS, Kids and Car Safety reports that at least 8,000
   27  children during the years 1990 through 2022 were left alone in
   28  hot cars or independently gained access to unoccupied cars, with
   29  more than 990 of those children dying of heatstroke and more
   30  than 1,200 of them seriously injured, and
   31         WHEREAS, despite widespread education programs and public
   32  awareness initiatives over the past 30 years, the number of hot
   33  car deaths among children has continued to rise, and
   34         WHEREAS, inexpensive technology is currently available to
   35  detect and alert drivers to the presence of an unattended
   36  occupant in a vehicle, NOW, THEREFORE,
   37  
   38  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   39  
   40         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Jace Lucas Leslie
   41  Act.”
   42         Section 2. Section 316.2226, Florida Statutes, is created
   43  to read:
   44         316.2226 Unattended occupant alarm system required.—
   45         (1) As used in this section, the term “motor vehicle” means
   46  a motor vehicle as defined in s. 316.003 which is operated on
   47  the roadways, streets, and highways of this state. The term does
   48  not include:
   49         (a) A bus used for the transportation of persons for
   50  compensation.
   51         (b) A farm tractor or implement of husbandry.
   52         (c) A truck having a gross vehicle weight rating of more
   53  than 26,000 pounds.
   54         (d) A motorcycle, a moped, a bicycle, or an electric
   55  bicycle.
   56         (2) By October 1, 2024, any person who drives one or more
   57  children up to age 6 in a motor vehicle must equip the motor
   58  vehicle with an alarm system approved by the department which
   59  prompts the driver to inspect the motor vehicle for unattended
   60  occupants before exiting the motor vehicle.
   61         (3) A violation of this section is a noncriminal traffic
   62  infraction, punishable as a moving violation as provided in
   63  chapter 318.
   64         (4) By September 1, 2024, the department shall initiate a
   65  public awareness campaign to educate individuals regarding the
   66  alarm system required under subsection (2).
   67         (5) The department shall adopt by rule minimum safety
   68  standards for such systems and shall maintain a list of approved
   69  alarm manufacturers and alarm systems that meet or exceed those
   70  standards.
   71         Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (10) of section
   72  402.305, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   73         402.305 Licensing standards; child care facilities.—
   74         (10) TRANSPORTATION SAFETY.—
   75         (a) Minimum standards must shall include all of the
   76  following:
   77         1. Requirements for child restraints or seat belts in
   78  vehicles used by child care facilities and large family child
   79  care homes to transport children.
   80         2. Requirements for annual inspections of such vehicles.
   81         3. Limitations on the number of children who that may be
   82  transported in such vehicles.
   83         4. Procedures to ensure that children are not inadvertently
   84  left in vehicles when transported by the facility or home and
   85  that systems are in place to ensure accountability for children
   86  transported by such facilities and homes.
   87         5. Procedures for notification of a child’s emergency
   88  contact if the child does not arrive at the scheduled time and
   89  the facility or family day care home has not received an
   90  advanced notification of the child’s absence.
   91         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.