Florida Senate - 2010                       CS for CS for SB 316
       
       
       
       By the Committees on Criminal Justice; and Transportation; and
       Senator Altman
       
       
       
       591-02748-10                                           2010316c2
    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         providing certain exceptions; redefining the term
    6         “motor vehicle” to exclude certain vehicles from such
    7         requirements; providing a grace period; providing
    8         effective dates.
    9  
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Effective January 1, 2011, subsection (1) and
   13  paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 316.613, Florida
   14  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 Standard No. 213.
   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. The court
   31  may dismiss the charge against a motor vehicle operator for a
   32  first violation of this subsection upon proof that a federally
   33  approved child restraint device has been purchased or otherwise
   34  obtained.
   35         (b) For children aged through 3 years, such restraint
   36  device must be a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturer’s
   37  integrated child seat.
   38         (c) For children aged 4 through 7 5 years who are less than
   39  4 feet 9 inches in height, a separate carrier, an integrated
   40  child seat, or a child booster seat belt may be used. However,
   41  the requirement to use a child booster seat does not apply when
   42  a separate carrier, integrated child seat, or seat belt as
   43  required in s. 316.614(4)(a) is used and the person is:
   44         1.Transporting the child gratuitously and in good faith in
   45  response to a declared emergency situation or an immediate
   46  emergency involving the child; or
   47         2. Transporting a child whose medical condition
   48  necessitates an exception as evidenced by appropriate
   49  documentation from a health professional.
   50         (d)(b) The Division of Motor Vehicles shall provide notice
   51  of the requirement for child restraint devices, which notice
   52  shall accompany the delivery of each motor vehicle license tag.
   53         (2) As used in this section, the term “motor vehicle” means
   54  a motor vehicle as defined in s. 316.003 that is operated on the
   55  roadways, streets, and highways of the state. The term does not
   56  include:
   57         (b) A bus or a passenger vehicle designed to accommodate 10
   58  or more persons and used for the transportation of persons for
   59  compensation, other than a bus regularly used to transport
   60  children to or from school, as defined in s. 316.615(1)(b), or
   61  in conjunction with school activities.
   62         Section 2. Effective July 1, 2010, a driver of a motor
   63  vehicle who does not violate the then-existing provisions of s.
   64  316.613(1)(c), Florida Statutes, but whose conduct would violate
   65  that provision, as amended January 1, 2011, shall be issued a
   66  verbal warning and given educational literature by a law
   67  enforcement officer.
   68         Section 3. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
   69  act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2010.