Bill Text: FL H0151 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Child Safety Devices in Motor Vehicles

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Failed) 2012-03-09 - Died in Transportation and Highway Safety Subcommittee [H0151 Detail]

Download: Florida-2012-H0151-Introduced.html
HB 151

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to child safety devices in motor
3vehicles; amending s. 316.613, F.S.; providing child
4restraint requirements for children age 7 years or
5younger who are less than a specified height;
6providing exceptions; redefining the term "motor
7vehicle" to exclude certain vehicles from such
8requirements; providing a grace period; requiring that
9a law enforcement officer issue a warning and give
10educational literature to an operator of a motor
11vehicle during the grace period, under certain
12circumstances; providing effective dates.
13
14Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16     Section 1.  Effective January 1, 2013, subsection (1) and
17paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 316.613, Florida
18Statutes, are amended to read:
19     316.613  Child restraint requirements.-
20     (1)(a)  Each Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined
21herein, while transporting a child in a motor vehicle operated
22on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall, if
23the child is 7 5 years of age or younger and less than 4 feet 9
24inches in height, provide for protection of the child by
25properly using a crash-tested, federally approved child
26restraint device that is appropriate for the height and weight
27of the child. The device may include a separate carrier, a
28vehicle manufacturer's integrated child seat, or a child booster
29seat that displays the child's height and weight specifications
30for the seat on the attached manufacturer's label as required by
31Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213. The device must
32comply with the standards of the United States Department of
33Transportation and be secured in the motor vehicle in accordance
34with the manufacturer's instructions. The court may dismiss the
35charge against a motor vehicle operator for a first violation of
36this subsection upon proof that a federally approved child
37restraint device has been purchased or otherwise obtained.
38     1.  For children aged through 3 years, such restraint
39device must be a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturer's
40integrated child seat.
41     2.  For children aged 4 through 7 5 years who are less than
424 feet 9 inches in height, a separate carrier, an integrated
43child seat, or a child booster seat belt may be used. However,
44the requirement to use a child restraint device does not apply
45when a safety belt as required in s. 316.614(4)(a) is used and
46the person is:
47     a.  Transporting the child gratuitously and in good faith
48in response to a declared emergency situation or an immediate
49emergency involving the child; or
50     b.  Transporting a child whose medical condition
51necessitates an exception as indicated by appropriate
52documentation from a health professional.
53     (b)  The department shall provide notice of the requirement
54for child restraint devices, which notice shall accompany the
55delivery of each motor vehicle license tag.
56     (2)  As used in this section, the term "motor vehicle"
57means a motor vehicle as defined in s. 316.003 that is operated
58on the roadways, streets, and highways of the state. The term
59does not include:
60     (b)  A bus or a passenger vehicle designed to accommodate
6110 or more persons and used for the transportation of persons
62for compensation, other than a bus regularly used to transport
63children to or from school, as defined in s. 316.615(1)(b), or
64in conjunction with school activities.
65     Section 2.  Effective July 1, 2012, an operator of a motor
66vehicle who does not violate the then-existing provisions of s.
67316.613(1)(a), Florida Statutes, but whose conduct would violate
68that paragraph as amended January 1, 2013, shall be issued a
69verbal warning and given educational literature by a law
70enforcement officer.
71     Section 3.  Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
72act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2012.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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