Florida Senate - 2011                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 1150
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 764478                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/30/2011           .                                
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       The Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability
       (Benacquisto) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Between lines 573 and 574
    4  insert:
    5         Section 14. Effective January 1, 2012, subsection (1) and
    6  paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 316.613, Florida
    7  Statutes, are amended to read:
    8         316.613 Child restraint requirements.—
    9         (1)(a) Each Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined
   10  herein, while transporting a child in a motor vehicle operated
   11  on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall, if
   12  the child is 7 5 years of age or younger and is less than 4 feet
   13  9 inches in height, provide for protection of the child by
   14  properly using a crash-tested, federally approved child
   15  restraint device that is appropriate for the height and weight
   16  of the child. The device may include a vehicle manufacturer’s
   17  integrated child seat, a separate child safety seat, or a child
   18  booster seat that displays the child’s weight and height
   19  specifications for the seat on the attached manufacturer’s label
   20  as required by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213.
   21  The device must comply with the standards of the United States
   22  Department of Transportation and be secured in the motor vehicle
   23  in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. The court
   24  may dismiss the charge against a motor vehicle operator for a
   25  first violation of this subsection upon proof that a federally
   26  approved child restraint device has been purchased or otherwise
   27  obtained.
   28         (b) For children aged through 3 years, such restraint
   29  device must be a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturer’s
   30  integrated child seat.
   31         (c) For children aged 4 through 7 5 years who are less than
   32  4 feet 9 inches in height, a separate carrier, an integrated
   33  child seat, or a child booster seat belt may be used. However,
   34  the requirement to use a child booster seat does not apply when
   35  a separate carrier, integrated child seat, or seat belt as
   36  required in s. 316.614(4)(a) is used and the person is:
   37         1.Transporting the child gratuitously and in good faith in
   38  response to a declared emergency situation or an immediate
   39  emergency involving the child; or
   40         2. Transporting a child whose medical condition
   41  necessitates an exception as evidenced by appropriate
   42  documentation from a health professional.
   43         (d)(b) The Division of Motor Vehicles shall provide notice
   44  of the requirement for child restraint devices, which notice
   45  shall accompany the delivery of each motor vehicle license tag.
   46         (2) As used in this section, the term “motor vehicle” means
   47  a motor vehicle as defined in s. 316.003 that is operated on the
   48  roadways, streets, and highways of the state. The term does not
   49  include:
   50         (b) A bus or a passenger vehicle designed to accommodate 10
   51  or more persons and used for the transportation of persons for
   52  compensation, other than a bus regularly used to transport
   53  children to or from school, as defined in s. 316.615(1)(b), or
   54  in conjunction with school activities.
   55         Section 15. Effective July 1, 2011, a driver of a motor
   56  vehicle who does not violate the then-existing provisions of s.
   57  316.613(1)(c), Florida Statutes, but whose conduct would violate
   58  that provision, as amended January 1, 2012, shall be issued a
   59  verbal warning and given educational literature by a law
   60  enforcement officer.
   61  
   62  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   63         And the title is amended as follows:
   64         Delete line 36
   65  and insert:
   66         vehicles; amending s. 316.613, F.S.; providing child
   67         restraint requirements for children ages 4 through 7
   68         years of age who are less than a specified height;
   69         providing certain exceptions; redefining the term
   70         “motor vehicle” to exclude certain vehicles from such
   71         requirements; providing a grace period; amending s.
   72         316.646, F.S.; authorizing the