House Bill 1837c1
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 CS/HB 1837
By the Committee on Judiciary and Representative Bilirakis
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to child passenger restraint;
3 amending s. 316.613, F.S.; removing an obsolete
4 reference; amending s. 316.614, F.S.; providing
5 for primary enforcement of violations of child
6 restraint requirements; amending s. 318.18,
7 F.S.; providing a fine for violations of child
8 restraint requirements; amending s. 318.21,
9 F.S.; providing for deposit and use of proceeds
10 from fines for violation of child restraint
11 requirements; providing an effective date.
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13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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15 Section 1. Section 316.613, Florida Statutes, is
16 amended to read:
17 316.613 Child restraint requirements.--
18 (1)(a) Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined
19 herein, while transporting a child in a motor vehicle operated
20 on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall, if
21 the child is 5 years of age or younger, provide for protection
22 of the child by properly using a crash-tested, federally
23 approved child restraint device. For children aged through 3
24 years, such restraint device must be a separate carrier or a
25 vehicle manufacturer's integrated child seat. For children
26 aged 4 through 5 years, a separate carrier, an integrated
27 child seat, or a seat belt may be used.
28 (b) The Division of Motor Vehicles shall provide
29 notice of the requirement for child restraint devices, which
30 notice shall accompany the delivery of each motor vehicle
31 license tag.
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 CS/HB 1837
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1 (2) As used in this section, the term "motor vehicle"
2 means a motor vehicle as defined in s. 316.003 that is
3 operated on the roadways, streets, and highways of the state.
4 The term does not include:
5 (a) A school bus as defined in s. 316.003(45).
6 (b) A bus used for the transportation of persons for
7 compensation, other than a bus regularly used to transport
8 children to or from school, as defined in s. 316.615(1)(b), or
9 in conjunction with school activities.
10 (c) A farm tractor or implement of husbandry.
11 (d) A truck of net weight of more than 5,000 pounds.
12 (e) A motorcycle, moped, or bicycle.
13 (3) The failure to provide and use a child passenger
14 restraint shall not be considered comparative negligence, nor
15 shall such failure be admissible as evidence in the trial of
16 any civil action with regard to negligence.
17 (4) It is the legislative intent that all state,
18 county, and local law enforcement agencies, and safety
19 councils, in recognition of the problems with child death and
20 injury from unrestrained occupancy in motor vehicles, conduct
21 a continuing safety and public awareness campaign as to the
22 magnitude of the problem.
23 (5) Any person who violates the provisions of this
24 section commits a moving violation, punishable as provided in
25 chapter 318 and shall have 3 points assessed against his or
26 her driver's license as set forth in s. 322.27. In lieu of the
27 penalty specified in s. 318.18 and the assessment of points, a
28 person who violates the provisions of this section may elect,
29 with the court's approval, to participate in a child restraint
30 safety program approved by the chief judge of the circuit in
31 which the violation occurs, and upon completing such program,
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 CS/HB 1837
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1 the penalty specified in chapter 318 and associated costs may
2 be waived at the court's discretion and the assessment of
3 points shall be waived. The child restraint safety program
4 must use a course approved by the Department of Highway Safety
5 and Motor Vehicles Health and Rehabilitative Services, and the
6 fee for the course must bear a reasonable relationship to the
7 cost of providing the course.
8 Section 2. Section 316.614, Florida Statutes, is
9 amended to read:
10 316.614 Safety belt usage.--
11 (1) This section may be cited as the "Florida Safety
12 Belt Law."
13 (2) It is the policy of this state that enactment of
14 this section is intended to be compatible with the continued
15 support by the state for federal safety standards requiring
16 automatic crash protection, and the enactment of this section
17 should not be used in any manner to rescind or delay the
18 implementation of the federal automatic crash protection
19 system requirements of Federal Motor Safety Standard 208 as
20 set forth in S4.1.2.1 thereof, as entered on July 17, 1984,
21 for new cars.
22 (3) As used in this section:
23 (a) "Motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle as defined
24 in s. 316.003 that is operated on the roadways, streets, and
25 highways of this state. The term does not include:
26 1. A school bus.
27 2. A bus used for the transportation of persons for
28 compensation.
29 3. A farm tractor or implement of husbandry.
30 4. A truck of a net weight of more than 5,000 pounds.
31 5. A motorcycle, moped, or bicycle.
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 CS/HB 1837
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1 (b) "Safety belt" means a seat belt assembly that
2 meets the requirements established under Federal Motor Vehicle
3 Safety Standard No. 208, 49 C.F.R. s. 571.208.
4 (c) "Restrained by a safety belt" means being
5 restricted by an appropriately adjusted safety belt which is
6 properly fastened at all times when a motor vehicle is in
7 motion.
8 (4) It is unlawful for any person:
9 (a) To operate a motor vehicle in this state unless
10 each passenger of the vehicle under the age of 16 years is
11 restrained by a safety belt or by a child restraint device
12 pursuant to s. 316.613, if applicable; or
13 (b) To operate a motor vehicle in this state unless
14 the person is restrained by a safety belt.
15 (5) It is unlawful for any person 16 years of age or
16 older to be a passenger in the front seat of a motor vehicle
17 unless such person is restrained by a safety belt when the
18 vehicle is in motion.
19 (6)(a) Neither a person who is certified by a
20 physician as having a medical condition that causes the use of
21 a safety belt to be inappropriate or dangerous nor an employee
22 of a newspaper home delivery service while in the course of
23 his or her employment delivering newspapers on home delivery
24 routes is required to be restrained by a safety belt.
25 (b) The number of front seat passengers of a pickup
26 truck required to wear a safety belt pursuant to this section
27 shall not exceed the number of safety belts which were
28 installed in the front seat of such pickup truck by the
29 manufacturer.
30 (c) An employee of a solid waste or recyclable
31 collection service is not required to be restrained by a
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 CS/HB 1837
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1 safety belt while in the course of employment collecting solid
2 waste or recyclables on designated routes.
3 (d) The requirements of this section shall not apply
4 to the living quarters of a recreational vehicle or a space
5 within a truck body primarily intended for merchandise or
6 property.
7 (7) It is the intent of the Legislature that all
8 state, county, and local law enforcement agencies, safety
9 councils, and public school systems, in recognition of the
10 fatalities and injuries attributed to unrestrained occupancy
11 of motor vehicles, shall conduct a continuing safety and
12 public awareness campaign as to the magnitude of the problem
13 and adopt programs designed to encourage compliance with the
14 safety belt usage requirements of this section.
15 (8) Any person who violates the provisions of this
16 section commits a nonmoving violation, punishable as provided
17 in chapter 318. However, except for violations of s. 316.613,
18 enforcement of this section by state or local law enforcement
19 agencies must be accomplished only as a secondary action when
20 a driver of a motor vehicle has been detained for a suspected
21 violation of another section of this chapter, chapter 320, or
22 chapter 322.
23 (9) A violation of the provisions of this section
24 shall not constitute negligence per se, nor shall such
25 violation be used as prima facie evidence of negligence or be
26 considered in mitigation of damages, but such violation may be
27 considered as evidence of comparative negligence, in any civil
28 action.
29 Section 3. Subsection (12) is added to section 318.18,
30 Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, to read:
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1 318.18 Amount of civil penalties.--The penalties
2 required for a noncriminal disposition pursuant to s. 318.14
3 are as follows:
4 (12) In addition to any other fines, a fine of $100
5 for a violation of s. 316.613.
6 Section 4. Subsection (13) is added to section 318.21,
7 Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, to read:
8 318.21 Disposition of civil penalties by county
9 courts.--All civil penalties received by a county court
10 pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be
11 distributed and paid monthly as follows:
12 (13) Of the additional fine assessed under s.
13 318.18(12) for a violation of s. 316.613, all of the proceeds,
14 without any deductions otherwise provided in this section,
15 must be deposited into the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury
16 Rehabilitation Trust Fund and used for the purposes set forth
17 in s. 413.613.
18 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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