Florida Senate - 2014              PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
       Bill No. CS for SB 518
       
       
       
       
       
                               Ì790730ÄÎ790730                          
       
       576-02500A-14                                                   
       Proposed Committee Substitute by the Committee on Appropriations
       (Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and
       Economic Development)
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to child safety devices in motor
    3         vehicles; amending s. 316.613, F.S.; revising child
    4         restraint requirements for children who are younger
    5         than a specified age; requiring an operator of a motor
    6         vehicle to use a separate carrier, integrated child
    7         seat, or child booster seat; providing exceptions;
    8         subjecting a violation to penalties; providing an
    9         effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and subsection
   14  (5) of section 316.613, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   15         316.613 Child restraint requirements.—
   16         (1)(a) Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined in this
   17  section, while transporting a child in a motor vehicle operated
   18  on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall, if
   19  the child is 6 5 years of age or younger, provide for protection
   20  of the child by properly using a crash-tested, federally
   21  approved child restraint device.
   22         1. For children aged through 3 years, such restraint device
   23  must be a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturer’s
   24  integrated child seat.
   25         2. For children aged 4 through 6 5 years, a separate
   26  carrier, an integrated child seat, or a child booster seat belt
   27  may be used. However, the requirement to use a child restraint
   28  device under this subparagraph does not apply when a safety belt
   29  is used as required in s. 316.614(4)(a) and the child:
   30         a. Is being transported gratuitously by an operator who is
   31  not a member of the child’s immediate family;
   32         b. Is being transported in a medical emergency situation
   33  involving the child; or
   34         c. Has a medical condition which necessitates an exception
   35  as evidenced by appropriate documentation from a health
   36  professional.
   37         (5) A Any person who violates this section commits a moving
   38  violation, punishable as provided in chapter 318 and shall have
   39  3 points shall be assessed against his or her driver license as
   40  set forth in s. 322.27. In lieu of the penalty specified in s.
   41  318.18 and the assessment of points, a person who violates this
   42  section may elect, with the court’s approval, to participate in
   43  a child restraint safety program approved by the chief judge of
   44  the circuit in which the violation occurs, and, upon completing
   45  such program, the penalty specified in chapter 318 and
   46  associated costs may be waived at the court’s discretion and the
   47  assessment of points shall be waived. The child restraint safety
   48  program must use a course approved by the Department of Highway
   49  Safety and Motor Vehicles, and the fee for the course must bear
   50  a reasonable relationship to the cost of providing the course.
   51         Section 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2015.