Bill As Introduced S.25

BILL AS INTRODUCED S.25

2003 Page 1

S.25

Introduced by Senator Bartlett of Lamoille County, Senator Ayer of Addison County, Senator Condos of Chittenden County, Senator Doyle of Washington County, Senator Gossens of Addison County, Senator Leddy of Chittenden County, Senator Maynard of Rutland County and Senator Munt of Chittenden County

Referred to Committee on

Date:

Subject: Motor vehicles; child passenger safety; safety belt enforcement

Statement of purpose: This bill proposes to amend the child passenger safety law and safety belt law by:

(1) Providing that all persons be secured in a federally-approved child passenger restraining system or safety belt.

(2) Providing that children up to age eight be in a child passenger restraining system.

(3) Providing that children under one year of age and under 20 pounds be restrained in a rear-facing restraining system that is not located in the path of an active air bag.

(4) Repealing the medical exemption for not using a safety restraining system.

(5) Raising the fine for violations of the child restraint system law to $100.00 and allocating the revenue to the “Kids in Safety Seat Program”.

(6) Assessing two points against the driving record of persons who violate the child passenger safety law.

(7) Providing that failure to wear a safety belt will be a primary, not a secondary, offense, and raising the fine for failure to wear a safety belt to $25.00.

AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE PASSENGER SAFETY

It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:

Sec. 1. 23 V.S.A. § 1258 is amended to read:

§ 1258. CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEMS

(a) No person shall operate a motor vehicle, other than a type I school bus, in this state upon a public highway while transporting a child under the age of five years unless the child is properly restrained in a federally approved federallyapproved child passenger restraining system as defined in 49 C.F.R. § 571.213 (1993) or a federallyapproved safety belt, as follows:

(1) Children under one year of age and under 20 pounds shall be restrained in a rear-facing position properly secured in a federally-approved child passenger restraining system. A rear-facing system shall not be installed in the path of an active air bag.

(2) Children under the age of eight years shall be restrained in a child passenger restraining system.

(3) Children eight through 17 years of age shall be restrained in a safety belt system or a child passenger restraining system.

(b) No person shall operate a motor vehicle, other than a school bus, in this state upon a public highway while transporting a child aged 5 through 12 unless the child is properly secured in a federally approved safety belt.

(1) the motor vehicle is regularly used to transport passengers for hire except a motor vehicle owned or operated by a day care facility; or

(2) the motor vehicle was manufactured without safety belts; or

(3) the child being transported has a physical condition which prevents the use of the child passenger restraining system or safety belts where otherwise applicable; or

(4) the total number of persons being transported exceeds the number of safety belts, so long as:

(A) all children under the age of five years are restrained in a federally approved child passenger restraining system; and

(B) all safety belts are being utilized.

(d)(c) A person violating this section shall be fined not more than $25.00 $100.00.

(d) The revenue from fines collected for violations of this section shall be directed to the KISS program (Kids in Safety Seat).

Sec. 2. 23 V.S.A. § 4(44) is amended to read:

Except as may be otherwise provided herein, and unless the context otherwise requires in statutes relating to motor vehicles and enforcement of the law regulating vehicles, as provided in this title and part 5 of Title 20, the following definitions shall apply:

* * *

(44) “Moving violation” shall mean any violation of any provision of this title, while the motor vehicle is being operated on a public highway, over which operation the operator has discretion as to commission of the act, with exception of offenses pertaining to a parked vehicle, equipment, size, weight, inspection or registration of the vehicle and child restraint or safety belt systems or seat belts as required in section 1258 or 1259 of this title.

Sec. 3. 23 V.S.A. § 2502(a)(1) is amended to read:

(a) Any person operating a motor vehicle shall have points assessed against his or her driving record for convictions for moving violations of the indicated motor vehicle statutes in accord with the following schedule: (All references are to Title 23 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated.)

(1) Two points assessed for:

* * *

(DDD) § 1258. Child passenger restraining systems;

(DDD)(EEE) § 800. Operating without financial

responsibility;

(EEE)(FFF) All other moving violations which have

no specified points;

Sec. 4. 23 V.S.A. § 1259(a) is amended to read:

(a) The operator of a motor vehicle shall be subject to a penalty of $10.00 the penalty provided for in subsection (f) of this section if any person required to be restrained under this section is occupying a seating position which has been manufactured with a federally approved federallyapproved safety belt system and is not restrained by the safety belt system while the motor vehicle is in motion on a public highway.

Sec. 5. 23 V.S.A. § 1259(f) is amended to read:

(f) This section may be enforced only if a law enforcement officer has detained the operator of a motor vehicle for a suspected violation of another traffic offense. An operator shall not be subject to the penalty established in this section unless the operator is required to pay a penalty for the primary offense Any person violating this section during the period July 1, 2003 to December 31, 2003 shall be given a warning of violation only. Thereafter, any person violating this section shall be fined $25.00.

Sec. 6. THE GOVERNOR’S HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAM

The governor’s highway safety program shall be responsible for a public information campaign to educate the public about the change in the law, and shall review the impact of the safety belt law on the usage rates, and report to the general assembly on January 15, 2006.