Florida Senate - 2020                                     SB 158
       
       
        
       By Senator Perry
       
       
       
       
       
       8-00229-20                                             2020158__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to child restraint requirements;
    3         amending s. 316.613, F.S.; increasing the age of
    4         children for whom operators of motor vehicles must
    5         provide protection by using a crash-tested, federally
    6         approved child restraint device; increasing the age of
    7         children for whom a separate carrier, an integrated
    8         child seat, or a child booster seat may be used;
    9         providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
   14  316.613, Florida Statutes, is 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 may
   27  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 that necessitates an exception
   35  as evidenced by appropriate documentation from a health care
   36  professional.
   37         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.