Florida Senate - 2014                              CS for SB 518
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Transportation; and Senator Flores
       
       
       
       
       
       596-02213-14                                           2014518c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to child safety devices in motor
    3         vehicles; amending s. 316.613, F.S.; revising child
    4         restraint requirements for children who are younger
    5         than a specified age; requiring an operator of a motor
    6         vehicle to use a separate carrier, integrated child
    7         seat, or child booster seat; providing an exception;
    8         subjecting a violation to penalties; providing an
    9         effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and subsection
   14  (5) of section 316.613, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   15         316.613 Child restraint requirements.—
   16  (1)(a) Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined in this
   17  section, 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 6 5 years of age or younger, provide for protection
   20  of the child by properly using a crash-tested, federally
   21  approved child restraint device.
   22         1. For children aged through 3 years, such restraint device
   23  must be a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturer’s
   24  integrated child seat.
   25         2. For children aged 4 through 6 5 years, a separate
   26  carrier, an integrated child seat, or a child booster seat belt
   27  may be used. However, the requirement to use a child restraint
   28  device under this subparagraph does not apply when a safety belt
   29  is used as required in s. 316.614(4)(a) and the motor vehicle
   30  operator is not a member of the child’s immediate family and is
   31  transporting the child gratuitously or in case of an emergency.
   32         (5) A Any person who violates this section commits a moving
   33  violation, punishable as provided in chapter 318 and shall have
   34  3 points shall be assessed against his or her driver license as
   35  set forth in s. 322.27. In lieu of the penalty specified in s.
   36  318.18 and the assessment of points, a person who violates this
   37  section may elect, with the court’s approval, to participate in
   38  a child restraint safety program approved by the chief judge of
   39  the circuit in which the violation occurs, and, upon completing
   40  such program, the penalty specified in chapter 318 and
   41  associated costs may be waived at the court’s discretion and the
   42  assessment of points shall be waived. The child restraint safety
   43  program must use a course approved by the Department of Highway
   44  Safety and Motor Vehicles, and the fee for the course must bear
   45  a reasonable relationship to the cost of providing the course.
   46         Section 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2015.