| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to child passenger safety; amending s. |
| 3 | 316.613, F.S.; revising requirements for safety restraints |
| 4 | to be used by motor vehicle passengers under a certain |
| 5 | age; providing a short title; providing for application; |
| 6 | requiring motor vehicle leasing companies to provide |
| 7 | notice of restraint device requirements; providing |
| 8 | definitions; revising the definition of "motor vehicle"; |
| 9 | authorizing the Department of Highway Safety and Motor |
| 10 | Vehicles to expend funds for certain educational purposes; |
| 11 | prohibiting a driver from transporting a child who has not |
| 12 | attained a certain age unless the child is properly |
| 13 | restrained; providing requirements for use of restraint |
| 14 | devices and seating positions; providing for exceptions; |
| 15 | providing driver responsibility with respect to passenger |
| 16 | seating positions; providing penalties; providing for |
| 17 | disposition by the court; providing an effective date. |
| 18 |
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| 19 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 20 |
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| 21 | Section 1. Section 316.613, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 22 | to read: |
| 23 | 316.613 Child restraint requirements.-- |
| 24 | (1) This section may be cited as the "Child Passenger |
| 25 | Safety Act of Florida." |
| 26 | (2)(a) This section applies to any person operating a |
| 27 | motor vehicle on a public roadway, street, or highway of this |
| 28 | state when transporting a child who has not attained 18 years of |
| 29 | age. |
| 30 | (1)(a) Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined |
| 31 | herein, while transporting a child in a motor vehicle operated |
| 32 | on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall, if |
| 33 | the child is 5 years of age or younger, provide for protection |
| 34 | of the child by properly using a crash-tested, federally |
| 35 | approved child restraint device. For children aged through 3 |
| 36 | years, such restraint device must be a separate carrier or a |
| 37 | vehicle manufacturer's integrated child seat. For children aged |
| 38 | 4 through 5 years, a separate carrier, an integrated child seat, |
| 39 | or a seat belt may be used. |
| 40 | (b)1. The Division of Motor Vehicles shall provide notice |
| 41 | of the requirement for child restraint devices, which notice |
| 42 | shall accompany the delivery of each motor vehicle license tag. |
| 43 | 2. A business that leases motor vehicles to the public |
| 44 | shall provide notice in the leasing agreement of the requirement |
| 45 | for child restraint devices. |
| 46 | (3)(2) As used in this section:, the term |
| 47 | (a) "Appropriate child restraint" means a child restraint |
| 48 | that fits a child when used in accordance with the |
| 49 | recommendations of the child restraint manufacturer. |
| 50 | (b) "Child restraint" or "child restraint system" means |
| 51 | any portable or built-in device, except a seat belt, designed |
| 52 | for use in a motor vehicle to restrain, seat, or position a |
| 53 | child, which device meets or exceeds the requirements of 49 |
| 54 | C.F.R. s. 571.213. |
| 55 | (c) "Child restraint anchorage system" means the equipment |
| 56 | in a vehicle, other than seat belts, that is specifically |
| 57 | designed for attaching the child restraint to the vehicle seat. |
| 58 | (d) "Correctly installed" means that the child restraint, |
| 59 | other than a built-in child restraint, is attached to the |
| 60 | vehicle seat by means of the child restraint anchorage system or |
| 61 | a seat belt in a manner that tightly secures the child restraint |
| 62 | to the vehicle seat. |
| 63 | (e) "Driver" means an individual who operates and is in |
| 64 | control of a motor vehicle. |
| 65 | (f) "Lap belt" means a restraint that consists of a single |
| 66 | belt that provides only lower-body restraint. |
| 67 | (g) "Motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle as defined in s. |
| 68 | 316.003 that is operated on a roadway, street, or highway the |
| 69 | roadways, streets, and highways of the state. The term does not |
| 70 | include: |
| 71 | 1.(a) A school bus as defined in s. 316.003(45). |
| 72 | 2.(b) A bus, or a passenger vehicle designed to |
| 73 | accommodate ten or more persons, used for the commercial |
| 74 | transportation of persons for compensation, other than a bus |
| 75 | regularly used to transport children to or from school, as |
| 76 | defined in s. 316.615(1)(b), or in conjunction with school |
| 77 | activities. |
| 78 | 3.(c) A farm tractor or implement of husbandry. |
| 79 | 4.(d) A truck of net weight of more than 5,000 pounds. |
| 80 | 5.(e) A motorcycle, moped, or bicycle. |
| 81 | (h) "Properly restrained" means that the child occupies a |
| 82 | child restraint that is used in accordance with the |
| 83 | recommendations of the manufacturer and is correctly installed |
| 84 | in the vehicle. |
| 85 | (i) "Seat belt" means a restraint, consisting of a lap |
| 86 | belt or both a lap belt and a shoulder belt, that is attached to |
| 87 | the frame of a motor vehicle at a seating position. |
| 88 | (4)(3) The failure to provide and use a child passenger |
| 89 | restraint shall not be considered comparative negligence, nor |
| 90 | shall such failure be admissible as evidence in the trial of any |
| 91 | civil action with regard to negligence. |
| 92 | (5)(a)(4) It is the legislative intent that all state, |
| 93 | county, and local law enforcement agencies, and safety councils, |
| 94 | in recognition of the problems with child death and injury from |
| 95 | unrestrained occupancy in motor vehicles, conduct a continuing |
| 96 | safety and public awareness campaign as to the magnitude of the |
| 97 | problem. |
| 98 | (b) The department may authorize the expenditure of funds |
| 99 | for the purchase of promotional items as part of the public |
| 100 | information and education campaigns provided for in this |
| 101 | subsection and ss. 316.614, 322.025, and 403.7145. |
| 102 | (6)(a) A driver shall not transport a child who has not |
| 103 | attained 18 years of age in a motor vehicle on a public roadway, |
| 104 | street, or highway of this state unless the child is properly |
| 105 | restrained in an appropriate child restraint that is correctly |
| 106 | installed and that meets or exceeds the requirements of 49 |
| 107 | C.F.R. s. 571.213. |
| 108 | 1. For children from birth who have not attained 4 years |
| 109 | of age, the child restraint device must be a separate carrier or |
| 110 | a vehicle manufacturer's integrated child seat. |
| 111 | 2. For children at least 4 years of age who have not |
| 112 | attained 8 years of age, a separate child safety seat, a vehicle |
| 113 | manufacturer's integrated child seat, or a child booster seat |
| 114 | must be used. |
| 115 | 3. For children at least 8 years of age who have not |
| 116 | attained 18 years of age, a seat belt consisting of a lap belt |
| 117 | and a shoulder belt must be used; however, if the vehicle is not |
| 118 | equipped with lap and shoulder belts or if all existing lap and |
| 119 | shoulder belts are being used to properly restrain other |
| 120 | children who have not attained 18 years of age, a lap belt only |
| 121 | may be used. |
| 122 | (b) A child in a rear-facing child restraint device may |
| 123 | not ride in the front seat of a motor vehicle unless the front |
| 124 | passenger-side airbag is deactivated and: |
| 125 | 1. Only the front seat is available; or |
| 126 | 2. The special health care needs of the child require the |
| 127 | child to ride in the front seat of the motor vehicle, those |
| 128 | special needs are documented by a physician in writing, and the |
| 129 | written documentation is carried in the vehicle. |
| 130 | (c) The front passenger-side airbag must be deactivated |
| 131 | when a child who has not attained 13 years of age rides in the |
| 132 | front seat of the motor vehicle. A child who has not attained 13 |
| 133 | years of age should ride in the rear seat of the vehicle unless |
| 134 | the vehicle does not have a rear seat or the rear seat is being |
| 135 | used by other children who have not attained 13 years of age. |
| 136 | (d) A driver shall ensure that not more than one child |
| 137 | occupies each vehicle seating position equipped with a seat |
| 138 | belt. |
| 139 | (7) This section is subject to primary enforcement. A |
| 140 | driver who violates any provision of this section shall be |
| 141 | subject to penalty as follows: |
| 142 | (a) Until January 1, 2008, a driver may be issued a verbal |
| 143 | warning and given educational literature by a law enforcement |
| 144 | officer. |
| 145 | (b)(5) Any person who violates the provisions of this |
| 146 | section commits a moving violation, punishable as provided in |
| 147 | chapter 318 and shall have 3 points assessed against his or her |
| 148 | driver's license as set forth in s. 322.27. |
| 149 | (c) In lieu of the penalty specified in s. 318.18 and the |
| 150 | assessment of points, a person who violates the provisions of |
| 151 | this section may elect, with the court's approval, to: |
| 152 | 1. Provide proof of purchase of an appropriate child |
| 153 | restraint to the court or appropriate administrative body; or |
| 154 | 2. Participate in a child restraint safety program |
| 155 | approved by the chief judge of the circuit in which the |
| 156 | violation occurs, and upon completing such program, the penalty |
| 157 | specified in chapter 318 and associated costs may be waived at |
| 158 | the court's discretion and the assessment of points shall be |
| 159 | waived. The child restraint safety program must use a course |
| 160 | approved by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, |
| 161 | and the fee for the course must bear a reasonable relationship |
| 162 | to the cost of providing the course. |
| 163 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |