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H0462.........................................by TRANSPORTATION AND DEFENSE CHILD SAFETY RESTRAINTS - Amends existing law relating to passenger safety for children to provide that there shall be no exceptions to the law requiring all children six years of age or younger to be properly secured in a child safety restraint. 02/05 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing 02/06 Rpt prt - to Transp
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]] Fifty-ninth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2008IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 462 BY TRANSPORTATION AND DEFENSE COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO PASSENGER SAFETY FOR CHILDREN; AMENDING SECTION 49-672, IDAHO 3 CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT THERE SHALL BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THE LAW REQUIRING 4 ALL CHILDREN SIX YEARS OF AGE OR YOUNGER TO BE PROPERLY SECURED IN A CHILD 5 SAFETY RESTRAINT; AND AMENDING SECTION 49-673, IDAHO CODE, TO DELETE REF- 6 ERENCE TO AN EXCEPTION IN LAW THAT IS NO LONGER APPLICABLE. 7 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 8 SECTION 1. That Section 49-672, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 9 amended to read as follows: 10 49-672. PASSENGER SAFETY FOR CHILDREN. (1) No noncommercial motor vehicle 11 operator shall transport a child who is six (6) years of age or younger in a 12 motor vehicle manufactured with seat belts after January 1, 1966, unless the 13 child is properly secured in a child safety restraint that meets the require- 14 ments of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 213. 15 (2)The provisions of this section shall not apply:16(a) If all of the motor vehicle's seat belts are in use, but in such an17event any unrestrained child to which this section applies shall be placed18in the rear seat of the motor vehicle, if it is so equipped; or19(b) When the child is removed from the car safety restraint and held by20the attendant for the purpose of nursing the child or attending the21child's other immediate physiological needs.22(3)The failure to use a child safety restraint shall not be considered 23 under any circumstances as evidence of contributory negligence, nor shall such 24 failure be admissible as evidence in any civil action with regard to negli- 25 gence. 26 SECTION 2. That Section 49-673, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 27 amended to read as follows: 28 49-673. SAFETY RESTRAINT USE. (1) Except as provided insection 49-672,29Idaho Code, andsubsection (2) of this section, each occupant of a motor vehi- 30 cle which has a gross vehicle weight of not more than eight thousand (8,000) 31 pounds, and which was manufactured with safety restraints in compliance with 32 federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 208, shall have a safety restraint 33 properly fastened about his body at all times when the vehicle is in motion. 34 (2) The provisions of this section shall not apply to: 35 (a) An occupant of a motor vehicle who possesses a written statement from 36 a licensed physician that he is unable for medical reasons to wear a 37 safety restraint; 38 (b) Occupants of motorcycles, implements of husbandry and emergency vehi- 39 cles; 40 (c) Occupants of seats of a motor vehicle in which all safety restraints 41 are then properly in use by other occupants of that vehicle; or 2 1 (d) Mail carriers. 2 (3) (a) A citation may be issued to: 3 (i) Any occupant of the motor vehicle aged eighteen (18) years or 4 older who fails to wear a safety restraint as required in this sec- 5 tion; and 6 (ii) The operator of the motor vehicle if the operator is aged eigh- 7 teen (18) years or older and any occupant under eighteen (18) years 8 of age fails to wear a safety restraint as required in this section. 9 For purposes of this paragraph (a)(ii), it shall be deemed a single 10 violation regardless of the number of occupants not properly 11 restrained. 12 (b) A person issued a citation pursuant to this subsection shall be sub- 13 ject to a fine of ten dollars ($10.00), with five dollars ($5.00) of such 14 fine to be apportioned to the catastrophic health care cost fund, as set 15 forth in section 57-813, Idaho Code. A conviction under this subsection 16 shall not result in violation point counts as prescribed in section 17 49-326, Idaho Code, nor shall such a conviction be deemed to be a moving 18 traffic violation for the purpose of establishing rates of motor vehicle 19 insurance charged by a casualty insurer. 20 (4) A citation may be issued to the operator of the motor vehicle if the 21 operator is under eighteen (18) years of age and the operator or any other 22 occupant who is under eighteen (18) years of age fails to wear a safety 23 restraint as required in this section. For purposes of this subsection, it 24 shall be deemed a single violation regardless of the number of occupants not 25 properly restrained. A person issued a citation pursuant to this subsection 26 shall be subject to a fine of ten dollars ($10.00), five dollars ($5.00) of 27 such fine to be apportioned to the catastrophic health care cost fund as set 28 forth in section 57-813, Idaho Code, plus court costs. A conviction under this 29 subsection shall not result in violation point counts as prescribed in section 30 49-326, Idaho Code. In addition, a conviction under this subsection shall not 31 be deemed to be a moving traffic violation for the purpose of establishing 32 rates of motor vehicle insurance charged by a casualty insurer. 33 (5) Enforcement of this section by law enforcement officers may be accom- 34 plished only as a secondary action when the operator of the motor vehicle has 35 been detained for a suspected violation of another law. 36 (6) The department shall initiate and conduct an educational program, to 37 the extent sufficient private donations or federal funds for this specific 38 purpose are available to the department, to encourage compliance with the pro- 39 visions of this section and to publicize the effectiveness of use of safety 40 restraints and other restraint devices in reducing risk of harm to occupants 41 of motor vehicles. 42 (7) The department shall evaluate the effectiveness of the provisions of 43 this section and shall include a report of its findings in its annual evalua- 44 tion report on the Idaho highway safety plan which it submits to the national 45 highway traffic safety administration and federal highway administration pur- 46 suant to 23 U.S.C. section 402. 47 (8) The failure to use a safety restraint shall not be considered under 48 any circumstances as evidence of contributory or comparative negligence, nor 49 shall such failure be admissible as evidence in any civil action with regard 50 to negligence.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 17496
The children of our state are our most precious resource.
The legislature has set out strict guidelines requiring the
use of child safety seats. However, Idaho code currently
has two exemptions for the use of a child safety seat. The
first allows an unrestrained child if the vehicle seat belts
are in use, and the second allows the child to be removed to
attend to his physical needs. By keeping these exemptions
in code, we put the most vulnerable of our population at
considerable risk. The purpose of this proposed legislation
is to remove those exemptions, additional grants become
available to provide child safety seats for low income
residents.
FISCAL NOTE
There is no impact to the general fund.
Contact
Name: Sen Joyce Broadsword
Phone: 208-332-1338
Name: Rep. Shirley Ringo
Phone: 208-332-1130
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL IMPACT H 462