House Bill 1837e2
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CS/HB 1837, Second Engrossed
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; requiring that buses
7 purchased after a specified date and used in
8 transporting certain students be equipped with
9 safety belts or other restraint system that
10 comply with specified standards; providing an
11 exemption for certain school buses; providing a
12 definition for "school bus" used in the
13 section; requiring passengers to wear safety
14 belts or restraint system; providing immunity
15 of a school district, bus operator, and others
16 for injuries to a passenger caused solely
17 because the passenger was not wearing a safety
18 belt or restraint system; providing immunity to
19 such persons for injury caused by a passenger's
20 dangerous or unsafe use of a safety belt or
21 restraint system; providing certain provisions
22 for implementation; providing an exception to
23 the operation of the act; providing an
24 effective date.
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26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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28 Section 1. Section 316.613, Florida Statutes, is
29 amended to read:
30 316.613 Child restraint requirements.--
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CS/HB 1837, Second Engrossed
1 (1)(a) Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined
2 herein, while transporting a child in a motor vehicle operated
3 on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall, if
4 the child is 5 years of age or younger, provide for protection
5 of the child by properly using a crash-tested, federally
6 approved child restraint device. For children aged through 3
7 years, such restraint device must be a separate carrier or a
8 vehicle manufacturer's integrated child seat. For children
9 aged 4 through 5 years, a separate carrier, an integrated
10 child seat, or a seat belt may be used.
11 (b) The Division of Motor Vehicles shall provide
12 notice of the requirement for child restraint devices, which
13 notice shall accompany the delivery of each motor vehicle
14 license tag.
15 (2) As used in this section, the term "motor vehicle"
16 means a motor vehicle as defined in s. 316.003 that is
17 operated on the roadways, streets, and highways of the state.
18 The term does not include:
19 (a) A school bus as defined in s. 316.003(45).
20 (b) A bus used for the transportation of persons for
21 compensation, other than a bus regularly used to transport
22 children to or from school, as defined in s. 316.615(1)(b), or
23 in conjunction with school activities.
24 (c) A farm tractor or implement of husbandry.
25 (d) A truck of net weight of more than 5,000 pounds.
26 (e) A motorcycle, moped, or bicycle.
27 (3) The failure to provide and use a child passenger
28 restraint shall not be considered comparative negligence, nor
29 shall such failure be admissible as evidence in the trial of
30 any civil action with regard to negligence.
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CS/HB 1837, Second Engrossed
1 (4) It is the legislative intent that all state,
2 county, and local law enforcement agencies, and safety
3 councils, in recognition of the problems with child death and
4 injury from unrestrained occupancy in motor vehicles, conduct
5 a continuing safety and public awareness campaign as to the
6 magnitude of the problem.
7 (5) Any person who violates the provisions of this
8 section commits a moving violation, punishable as provided in
9 chapter 318 and shall have 3 points assessed against his or
10 her driver's license as set forth in s. 322.27. In lieu of the
11 penalty specified in s. 318.18 and the assessment of points, a
12 person who violates the provisions of this section may elect,
13 with the court's approval, to participate in a child restraint
14 safety program approved by the chief judge of the circuit in
15 which the violation occurs, and upon completing such program,
16 the penalty specified in chapter 318 and associated costs may
17 be waived at the court's discretion and the assessment of
18 points shall be waived. The child restraint safety program
19 must use a course approved by the Department of Highway Safety
20 and Motor Vehicles Health and Rehabilitative Services, and the
21 fee for the course must bear a reasonable relationship to the
22 cost of providing the course.
23 Section 2. Section 316.614, Florida Statutes, is
24 amended to read:
25 316.614 Safety belt usage.--
26 (1) This section may be cited as the "Florida Safety
27 Belt Law."
28 (2) It is the policy of this state that enactment of
29 this section is intended to be compatible with the continued
30 support by the state for federal safety standards requiring
31 automatic crash protection, and the enactment of this section
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CS/HB 1837, Second Engrossed
1 should not be used in any manner to rescind or delay the
2 implementation of the federal automatic crash protection
3 system requirements of Federal Motor Safety Standard 208 as
4 set forth in S4.1.2.1 thereof, as entered on July 17, 1984,
5 for new cars.
6 (3) As used in this section:
7 (a) "Motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle as defined
8 in s. 316.003 that is operated on the roadways, streets, and
9 highways of this state. The term does not include:
10 1. A school bus.
11 2. A bus used for the transportation of persons for
12 compensation.
13 3. A farm tractor or implement of husbandry.
14 4. A truck of a net weight of more than 5,000 pounds.
15 5. A motorcycle, moped, or bicycle.
16 (b) "Safety belt" means a seat belt assembly that
17 meets the requirements established under Federal Motor Vehicle
18 Safety Standard No. 208, 49 C.F.R. s. 571.208.
19 (c) "Restrained by a safety belt" means being
20 restricted by an appropriately adjusted safety belt which is
21 properly fastened at all times when a motor vehicle is in
22 motion.
23 (4) It is unlawful for any person:
24 (a) To operate a motor vehicle in this state unless
25 each passenger of the vehicle under the age of 16 years is
26 restrained by a safety belt or by a child restraint device
27 pursuant to s. 316.613, if applicable; or
28 (b) To operate a motor vehicle in this state unless
29 the person is restrained by a safety belt.
30 (5) It is unlawful for any person 16 years of age or
31 older to be a passenger in the front seat of a motor vehicle
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CS/HB 1837, Second Engrossed
1 unless such person is restrained by a safety belt when the
2 vehicle is in motion.
3 (6)(a) Neither a person who is certified by a
4 physician as having a medical condition that causes the use of
5 a safety belt to be inappropriate or dangerous nor an employee
6 of a newspaper home delivery service while in the course of
7 his or her employment delivering newspapers on home delivery
8 routes is required to be restrained by a safety belt.
9 (b) The number of front seat passengers of a pickup
10 truck required to wear a safety belt pursuant to this section
11 shall not exceed the number of safety belts which were
12 installed in the front seat of such pickup truck by the
13 manufacturer.
14 (c) An employee of a solid waste or recyclable
15 collection service is not required to be restrained by a
16 safety belt while in the course of employment collecting solid
17 waste or recyclables on designated routes.
18 (d) The requirements of this section shall not apply
19 to the living quarters of a recreational vehicle or a space
20 within a truck body primarily intended for merchandise or
21 property.
22 (7) It is the intent of the Legislature that all
23 state, county, and local law enforcement agencies, safety
24 councils, and public school systems, in recognition of the
25 fatalities and injuries attributed to unrestrained occupancy
26 of motor vehicles, shall conduct a continuing safety and
27 public awareness campaign as to the magnitude of the problem
28 and adopt programs designed to encourage compliance with the
29 safety belt usage requirements of this section.
30 (8) Any person who violates the provisions of this
31 section commits a nonmoving violation, punishable as provided
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CS/HB 1837, Second Engrossed
1 in chapter 318. However, except for violations of s. 316.613,
2 enforcement of this section by state or local law enforcement
3 agencies must be accomplished only as a secondary action when
4 a driver of a motor vehicle has been detained for a suspected
5 violation of another section of this chapter, chapter 320, or
6 chapter 322.
7 (9) A violation of the provisions of this section
8 shall not constitute negligence per se, nor shall such
9 violation be used as prima facie evidence of negligence or be
10 considered in mitigation of damages, but such violation may be
11 considered as evidence of comparative negligence, in any civil
12 action.
13 Section 3. (1)(a) Each school bus that is purchased
14 after December 31, 2000, and used to transport students in
15 grades pre-K through 12 must be equipped with safety belts or
16 with any other restraint system approved by the Federal
17 Government in a number sufficient to allow each student who is
18 being transported to use a separate safety belt or restraint
19 system. These safety belts must meet the standards required
20 under s. 316.614, Florida Statutes. A school bus that was
21 purchased prior to December 31, 2000, is not required to be
22 equipped with safety belts.
23 (b) As used in this section, "school bus" means a
24 school bus that is owned, leased, operated, or contracted by a
25 school district.
26 (2) Each passenger on a school bus that is equipped
27 with safety belts or restraint system shall wear a properly
28 adjusted and fastened safety belt at all times while the bus
29 is in operation. The state, the county, a school district,
30 school bus operator under contract with a school district, or
31 an agent or employee of a school district or operator,
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CS/HB 1837, Second Engrossed
1 including a teacher or volunteer serving as a chaperone, is
2 not liable in an action for personal injury by a school bus
3 passenger solely because the injured party was not wearing a
4 safety belt.
5 (3) The state, the county, a school district, school
6 bus operator under contract with a school district, or an
7 agent or employee of a school district or operator, including
8 a teacher or volunteer serving as a chaperone, is not liable
9 in an action for personal injury by a school bus passenger for
10 an injury caused solely by another passenger's use or non-use
11 of a safety belt or restraint system in a dangerous or unsafe
12 manner.
13 (4) In implementing the provisions of this section,
14 each school district must prioritize the allocation of buses
15 equipped with safety belts or restraint system to ensure that
16 elementary schools within the district receive first priority.
17 A school district may enter into agreements to provide
18 transportation pursuant to this section only if the point of
19 origin or termination of the trip is within the district's
20 boundaries.
21 (5) The provisions of this section shall not apply to
22 vehicles as defined in s. 234.051(1)(b), Florida Statutes.
23 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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