Bill Text: FL S0518 | 2014 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Child Safety Devices in Motor Vehicles

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-04-28 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/HB 225 (Ch. 2014-226) [S0518 Detail]

Download: Florida-2014-S0518-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2014                       CS for CS for SB 518
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Appropriations; and Transportation; and
       Senators Flores and Altman
       
       
       
       
       576-04696-14                                           2014518c2
    1  
    2                        A bill to be entitled                      
    3         An act relating to child safety devices in motor
    4         vehicles; amending s. 316.613, F.S.; revising child
    5         restraint requirements for children who are of certain
    6         age to include a child booster seat; providing
    7         exceptions; subjecting a violation to penalties;
    8         providing an effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and subsection
   13  (5) of section 316.613, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   14         316.613 Child restraint requirements.—
   15         (1)(a) Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined in this
   16  section, 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 5 years of age or younger, provide for protection
   19  of the child by properly using a crash-tested, federally
   20  approved child restraint device.
   21         1. For children aged through 3 years, such restraint device
   22  must be a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturer’s
   23  integrated child seat.
   24         2. For children aged 4 through 5 years, a separate carrier,
   25  an integrated child seat, or a child booster seat belt may be
   26  used. However, the requirement to use a child restraint device
   27  under this subparagraph does not apply when a safety belt is
   28  used as required in s. 316.614(4)(a) and the child:
   29         a. Is being transported gratuitously by an operator who is
   30  not a member of the child’s immediate family;
   31         b. Is being transported in a medical emergency situation
   32  involving the child; or
   33         c. Has a medical condition that necessitates an exception
   34  as evidenced by appropriate documentation from a health care
   35  professional.
   36         (5) Any person who violates this section commits a moving
   37  violation, punishable as provided in chapter 318 and shall have
   38  3 points assessed against his or her driver license as set forth
   39  in s. 322.27. In lieu of the penalty specified in s. 318.18 and
   40  the assessment of points, a person who violates this section may
   41  elect, with the court’s approval, to participate in a child
   42  restraint safety program approved by the chief judge of the
   43  circuit in which the violation occurs, and, upon completing such
   44  program, the penalty specified in chapter 318 and associated
   45  costs may be waived at the court’s discretion and the assessment
   46  of points shall be waived. The child restraint safety program
   47  must use a course approved by the Department of Highway Safety
   48  and Motor Vehicles, and the fee for the course must bear a
   49  reasonable relationship to the cost of providing the course.
   50         Section 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2015.