Bill Text: FL S0316 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Child-restraint Requirements/Motor Vehicles [CPSC]

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Messages [S0316 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S0316-Introduced.html

---

 
Florida Senate - 2010                                     SB 316 
 
By Senator Altman 
24-00290A-10                                           2010316__ 
1                        A bill to be entitled 
2         An act relating to child-restraint requirements; 
3         amending s. 316.613, F.S.; providing child-restraint 
4         requirements for certain children ages 4 through 7; 
5         redefining the term “motor vehicle” to exclude certain 
6         vehicles from such requirements; providing a grace 
7         period; providing exceptions; providing effective 
8         dates. 
9 
10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
11 
12         Section 1. Effective January 1, 2011, paragraph (a) of 
13  subsection (1) and paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 
14  316.613, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 
15         316.613 Child restraint requirements.— 
16         (1)(a) Each Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined 
17  herein, 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 7 5 years of age or younger and is less than 4 feet 
20  9 inches in height, provide for protection of the child by 
21  properly using a crash-tested, federally approved child 
22  restraint device that is appropriate for the height and weight 
23  of the child. The device may include a vehicle manufacturer’s 
24  integrated child seat, a separate child safety seat, or a child 
25  booster seat that displays the child’s weight and height 
26  specifications for the seat on the attached manufacturer’s label 
27  as required by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards FMVSS213. 
28  The device must comply with the standards of the United States 
29  Department of Transportation and be secured in the motor vehicle 
30  in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. For children 
31  aged through 3 years, such restraint device must be a separate 
32  carrier or a vehicle manufacturer’s integrated child seat. For 
33  children aged 4 through 7 5 years, a separate carrier, an 
34  integrated child seat, or a child booster seat belt may be used. 
35  The court may dismiss the charge against a motor vehicle 
36  operator for a first violation of this paragraph upon proof of 
37  purchase of a federally approved child restraint device. 
38         (2) As used in this section, the term “motor vehicle” means 
39  a motor vehicle as defined in s. 316.003 that is operated on the 
40  roadways, streets, and highways of the state. The term does not 
41  include: 
42         (b) A bus or a passenger vehicle designed to accommodate 10 
43  or more persons and used for the transportation of persons for 
44  compensation, other than a bus regularly used to transport 
45  children to or from school, as defined in s. 316.615(1)(b), or 
46  in conjunction with school activities. 
47         Section 2. Effective July 1, 2010, a driver of a motor 
48  vehicle who does not violate the then-existing provisions of s. 
49  316.613(1)(a), Florida Statutes, but whose conduct would violate 
50  that provision, as amended January 1, 2011, may be issued a 
51  verbal warning and given educational literature by a law 
52  enforcement officer. 
53         Section 3. This act does not apply to a person who is 
54  transporting a child who is 4 through 7 years of age if the 
55  person is: 
56         (1) Transporting the child gratuitously and in good faith 
57  in response to a declared emergency situation or an immediate 
58  emergency involving the child; or 
59         (2) Transporting a child whose medical condition 
60  necessitates an exception as evidenced by appropriate 
61  documentation from a health professional. 
62         Section 4. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this 
63  act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2010.