| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to highway safety; amending s. 316.650, |
| 3 | F.S.; providing for a parental notification system to be |
| 4 | developed by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor |
| 5 | Vehicles; requiring notification to the parent, guardian, |
| 6 | or other responsible adult who signed the driver license |
| 7 | application of a person under 18 years of age when a |
| 8 | written warning or citation has been issued to that person |
| 9 | for a violation of traffic law; providing for content of |
| 10 | the notification; amending s. 322.09, F.S.; requiring a |
| 11 | parent, guardian, or other responsible adult signing the |
| 12 | driver license application of a minor to provide certain |
| 13 | contact information; providing an effective date. |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 16 |
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| 17 | Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 316.650, Florida |
| 18 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 19 | 316.650 Traffic citations; parental notification system.-- |
| 20 | (1)(a) The department shall prepare, and supply to every |
| 21 | traffic enforcement agency in this state, an appropriate form |
| 22 | traffic citation containing a notice to appear (which shall be |
| 23 | issued in prenumbered books with citations in quintuplicate) and |
| 24 | meeting the requirements of this chapter or any laws of this |
| 25 | state regulating traffic, which form shall be consistent with |
| 26 | the state traffic court rules and the procedures established by |
| 27 | the department. Upon all future printings of the traffic |
| 28 | citation, the form shall include a special box which is to be |
| 29 | checked by the law enforcement officer when the officer believes |
| 30 | that the traffic violation or crash was due to aggressive |
| 31 | careless driving as defined in s. 316.1923. |
| 32 | (b) The department shall prepare, and supply to every |
| 33 | traffic enforcement agency in the state, an appropriate |
| 34 | affidavit-of-compliance form which shall be issued along with |
| 35 | the form traffic citation for any violation of s. 316.610 and |
| 36 | which shall indicate the specific defect which needs to be |
| 37 | corrected. However, such affidavit of compliance shall not be |
| 38 | issued in the case of a violation of s. 316.610 by a commercial |
| 39 | motor vehicle as defined in s. 316.003(66). Such affidavit-of- |
| 40 | compliance form shall be distributed in the same manner and to |
| 41 | the same parties as is the form traffic citation. |
| 42 | (c) The department shall develop a notification system |
| 43 | that shall be utilized by traffic law enforcement officers to |
| 44 | assist in the notification of the parent, guardian, or other |
| 45 | responsible adult who signed the application for a driver |
| 46 | license of a person under 18 years of age when the officer cites |
| 47 | or warns such person of a violation of traffic law. The |
| 48 | notification shall include the time and date the motor vehicle |
| 49 | was stopped, the reason the motor vehicle was stopped, the |
| 50 | number of people in the motor vehicle, the name of the driver |
| 51 | stopped, and the name of the officer who issued the citation or |
| 52 | warning. Such notifications shall be mailed by the department to |
| 53 | the address provided by the parent, guardian, or other |
| 54 | responsible adult in compliance with s. 322.09(1)(b). If no |
| 55 | address is on file pursuant to s. 322.09(1)(b), the department |
| 56 | shall mail the notification to the address on record for the |
| 57 | driver. |
| 58 | (d)(c) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a), and (b), and (c), a |
| 59 | traffic enforcement agency may produce uniform traffic citations |
| 60 | by electronic means. Such citations must be consistent with the |
| 61 | state traffic court rules and the procedures established by the |
| 62 | department; must be appropriately numbered and inventoried; and |
| 63 | may have fewer copies than the quintuplicate form. Affidavit-of- |
| 64 | compliance forms and any form required by the parental |
| 65 | notification system may also be produced by electronic means. |
| 66 | (e)(d) The department must distribute to every traffic |
| 67 | enforcement agency and to any others who request it, a traffic |
| 68 | infraction reference guide describing the class of the traffic |
| 69 | infraction, the penalty for the infraction, the points to be |
| 70 | assessed on a driver's license, and any other information |
| 71 | necessary to describe a violation and the penalties therefor. |
| 72 | Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 322.09, Florida |
| 73 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 74 | 322.09 Application of minors; responsibility for |
| 75 | negligence or misconduct of minor.-- |
| 76 | (1)(a) The application of any person under the age of 18 |
| 77 | years for a driver's license must be signed and verified before |
| 78 | a person authorized to administer oaths by the father, mother, |
| 79 | or guardian, or, if there is no parent or guardian, by another |
| 80 | responsible adult who is willing to assume the obligation |
| 81 | imposed under this chapter upon a person signing the application |
| 82 | of a minor. This section does not apply to a person under the |
| 83 | age of 18 years who is emancipated by marriage. |
| 84 | (b) The parent, guardian, or other responsible adult |
| 85 | signing the application of a minor pursuant to this section must |
| 86 | furnish an address with the application for the purpose of being |
| 87 | contacted in the event that the minor applicant is issued a |
| 88 | written warning or a citation for a violation of traffic law. |
| 89 | (c)(b) There shall be submitted with each application a |
| 90 | certified copy of a United States birth certificate, a valid |
| 91 | United States passport, an alien registration receipt card |
| 92 | (green card), an employment authorization card issued by the |
| 93 | United States Department of Homeland Security, or proof of |
| 94 | nonimmigrant classification provided by the United States |
| 95 | Department of Homeland Security, for an original license. |
| 96 | Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2005. |