Title: Child Safety Devices in Motor Vehicles

Summary: Providing child restraint requirements for children age 7 years or younger who are less than a specified height; providing exceptions; redefining the term "motor vehicle" to exclude certain vehicles from such requirements; providing a grace period; requiring that a law enforcement officer issue a warning and give educational literature to an operator of a motor vehicle during the grace period, etc.

Full Text:
An act relating to child safety devices in motor vehicles; amending s. 316.613, F.S.; providing child restraint requirements for children age years or younger who are less than a specified height; providing exceptions; redefining the term  motor vehicle  to exclude certain vehicles from such requirements; providing a grace period; requiring that a law enforcement officer issue a warning and give educational literature to an operator of a motor vehicle during the grace period, under certain circumstances; providing effective dates. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Effective January 1, 2013, subsection (1) and paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 316.613, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 316.613 Child restraint requirements.  (1)(a)  Each Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined herein,while transporting a child in a motor vehicle operated on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall, if the child is years of age or younger and less than feet inches in height,provide for protection of the child by properly using a crash-tested, federally approved child restraint device that is appropriate for the height and weight of the child.The device may include a separate carrier, a vehicle manufacturer s integrated child seat, or a child booster seat that displays the child s height and weight specifications for the seat on the attached manufacturer s label as required by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213. The device must comply with the standards of the United States Department of Transportation and be secured in the motor vehicle in accordance with the manufacturer s instructions. The court may dismiss the charge against a motor vehicle operator for a first violation of this subsection upon proof that a federally approved child restraint device has been purchased or otherwise obtained. 1.  For children aged through years, such restraint device must be a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturer s integrated child seat. 2.  For children aged through years who are less than feet inches in height,a separate carrier, an integrated child seat, or a child booster seat belt may be used. However, the requirement to use a child restraint device does not apply when a safety belt as required in s. 316.614 (4)(a) is used and the person is: a.  Transporting the child gratuitously and in good faith in response to a declared emergency situation or an immediate emergency involving the child; or b. Transporting a child whose medical condition necessitates an exception as indicated by appropriate documentation from a health professional. (b) The department shall provide notice of the requirement for child restraint devices, which notice shall accompany the delivery of each motor vehicle license tag. (2) As used in this section, the term  motor vehicle  means a motor vehicle as defined in s. 316.003 that is operated on the roadways, streets, and highways of the state. The term does not include: (b) A bus or a passenger vehicle designed to accommodate or more persons and used for the transportation of persons for compensation, other than a bus regularly used to transport children to or from school, as defined in s. 316.615(1)(b), or in conjunction with school activities. Section 2.  Effective July 1, 2,an operator of a motor vehicle who does not violate the then-existing provisions of s. 316.613 (1)( a ), Florida Statutes, but whose conduct would violate that paragraph as amended January 1, 3,shall be issued a verbal warning and given educational literature by a law enforcement officer. Section 3. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2012.