Bill Text: FL H0387 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Child-restraint Requirements

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 43-25)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on Roads, Bridges, & Ports Policy (EDCA) [H0387 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-H0387-Introduced.html

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HB 387

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to child-restraint requirements; amending
3	s. 316.613, F.S.; providing child-restraint requirements
4	for certain children ages 4 through 7; redefining the term
5	"motor vehicle" to exclude certain vehicles from such
6	requirements; providing a grace period; providing
7	exceptions; providing effective dates.
8
9	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11	Section 1. Effective January 1, 2011, paragraph (a) of
12	subsection (1) and paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
13	316.613, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
14	316.613 Child restraint requirements.-
15	(1)(a) Each Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined
16	herein, while transporting a child in a motor vehicle operated
17	on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall, if
18	the child is 7 5 years of age or younger and is less than 4 feet
19	9 inches in height, provide for protection of the child by
20	properly using a crash-tested, federally approved child
21	restraint device that is appropriate for the height and weight
22	of the child. The device may include a vehicle manufacturer's
23	integrated child seat, a separate child safety seat, or a child
24	booster seat that displays the child's weight and height
25	specifications for the seat on the attached manufacturer's label
26	as required by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards FMVSS213.
27	The device must comply with the standards of the United States
28	Department of Transportation and be secured in the motor vehicle
29	in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. For children
30	aged through 3 years, such restraint device must be a separate
31	carrier or a vehicle manufacturer's integrated child seat. For
32	children aged 4 through 7 5 years, a separate carrier, an
33	integrated child seat, or a child booster seat belt may be used.
34	The court may dismiss the charge against a motor vehicle
35	operator for a first violation of this paragraph upon proof of
36	purchase of a federally approved child restraint device.
37	(2) As used in this section, the term "motor vehicle"
38	means a motor vehicle as defined in s. 316.003 that is operated
39	on the roadways, streets, and highways of the state. The term
40	does not include:
41	(b) A bus or a passenger vehicle designed to accommodate
42	10 or more persons and used for the transportation of persons
43	for compensation, other than a bus regularly used to transport
44	children to or from school, as defined in s. 316.615(1)(b), or
45	in conjunction with school activities.
46	Section 2. Effective July 1, 2010, a driver of a motor
47	vehicle who does not violate the then-existing provisions of s.
48	316.613(1)(a), Florida Statutes, but whose conduct would violate
49	that provision, as amended January 1, 2011, may be issued a
50	verbal warning and given educational literature by a law
51	enforcement officer.
52	Section 3. This act does not apply to a person who is
53	transporting a child who is 4 through 7 years of age if the
54	person is:
55	(1) Transporting the child gratuitously and in good faith
56	in response to a declared emergency situation or an immediate
57	emergency involving the child; or
58	(2) Transporting a child whose medical condition
59	necessitates an exception as evidenced by appropriate
60	documentation from a health professional.
61	Section 4. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
62	act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

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