BILL NUMBER: AB 2108 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2006
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 22, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 14, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 7, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 19, 2006
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Evans
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bermudez, Lieber, and Pavley)
FEBRUARY 17, 2006
An act to amend Sections 27315, 27361, 27363, 27363.5, 27365, and
42001 of, and to add Sections 27360.6 and 42002.1 to, and to repeal
and add Sections 27360 and 27360.5 of, the Vehicle Code, relating to
vehicles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2108, Evans Vehicles: child passengers.
(1) Existing law establishes rules of the road governing the
operation of vehicles upon the highways. A violation of these rules
is a public offense.
Existing law prohibits a parent or legal guardian, while present
in a motor vehicle, from permitting his or her child or ward to be
transported upon a highway in the vehicle without providing and
properly securing the child or ward in a rear seat in a child
passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal safety
standards, unless the child or ward is 6 years of age or older or
weighs 60 pounds or more. Existing law imposes a similar prohibition
on the driver of a vehicle, unless the parent or legal guardian of
the child is also present in the vehicle and is not the driver.
Existing law places certain duties and restrictions on hospitals,
clinics, and birthing centers, as well as car rental agencies,
involving providing information and notices regarding child passenger
restraint system laws.
This bill would recast these provisions by requiring that a child
who is under 8 years of age be secured in a rear seat in an
appropriate child passenger restraint system. The bill would provide
an exception from the child passenger restraint system requirement
for a child who is under 8 years of age, but who is 4 feet 9 inches
tall or taller and who is properly restrained by a safety belt. The
bill would prohibit a parent or legal guardian, or driver from
transporting in a motor vehicle, a child or ward who is 8 years of
age or older, but less than 16 years of age without properly securing
the child or ward in an appropriate child passenger restraint system
or a safety belt.
The bill additionally would require for transport upon a highway
in a motor vehicle, that a parent or legal guardian, properly secure
his or her child or ward who is under 8 years of age in a child
passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal standards that
is rear-facing, unless the child or ward is one year of age or older
and also weighs 20 pounds or more. The bill would impose a similar
requirement on the driver of a motor vehicle, unless the parent or
legal guardian of the child is also present in the vehicle and is not
the driver.
The bill would consolidate and make conforming and technical
changes in existing law.
Because this bill would expand the scope of existing crimes and
would create a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 27315 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
27315. (a) The Legislature finds that a mandatory seatbelt law
will contribute to reducing highway deaths and injuries by
encouraging greater usage of existing manual seatbelts, that
automatic crash protection systems which require no action by vehicle
occupants offer the best hope of reducing deaths and injuries, and
that encouraging the use of manual safety belts is only a partial
remedy for addressing this major cause of death and injury. The
Legislature declares that the enactment of this section is intended
to be compatible with support for federal safety standards requiring
automatic crash protection systems and should not be used in any
manner to rescind federal requirements for installation of automatic
restraints in new cars.
(b) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Motor
Vehicle Safety Act.
(c) (1) As used in this section, "motor vehicle" means a passenger
vehicle, a motortruck, or a truck tractor, but does not include a
motorcycle.
(2) For purposes of this section, a "motor vehicle" also means any
farm labor vehicle, regardless of the date of certification under
Section 31401.
(d) (1) A person may not operate a motor vehicle on a highway
unless that person and all passengers 16 years of age or over are
properly restrained by a safety belt. This paragraph does not apply
to the operator of a taxicab, as defined in Section 27908, when the
taxicab is driven on a city street and is engaged in the
transportation of a fare-paying passenger. The safety belt
requirement established by this paragraph is the minimum safety
standard applicable to employees being transported in a motor
vehicle. This paragraph does not preempt any more stringent or
restrictive standards imposed by the Labor Code or any other state or
federal regulation regarding the transportation of employees in a
motor vehicle.
(2) The operator of a limousine for hire or the operator of an
authorized emergency vehicle, as defined in subdivision (a) of
Section 165, may not operate the limousine for hire or authorized
emergency vehicle unless the operator and any passengers eight years
of age or over, in the front seat are properly restrained by a safety
belt.
(3) The operator of a taxicab may not operate the taxicab unless
any passengers eight years of age or over, in the front seat are
properly restrained by a safety belt.
(e) A person 16 years of age or over may not be a passenger in a
motor vehicle on a highway unless that person is properly restrained
by a safety belt. This subdivision does not apply to a passenger in a
sleeper berth, as defined in subdivision (v) of Section 1201 of
Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations.
(f) Every owner of a motor vehicle, including every owner or
operator of a taxicab, as defined in Section 27908, or a limousine
for hire, operated on a highway shall maintain safety belts in good
working order for the use of occupants of the vehicle. The safety
belts shall conform to motor vehicle safety standards established by
the United States Department of Transportation. This subdivision does
not, however, require installation or maintenance of safety belts
where not required by the laws of the United States applicable to the
vehicle at the time of its initial sale.
(g) This section does not apply to a passenger or operator with a
physically disabling condition or medical condition which would
prevent appropriate restraint in a safety belt, if the condition is
duly certified by a licensed physician and surgeon or by a licensed
chiropractor who shall state the nature of the condition, as well as
the reason the restraint is inappropriate. This section also does not
apply to a public employee, when in an authorized emergency vehicle
as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 165, or to
any passenger in any seat behind the front seat of an authorized
emergency vehicle as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of
Section 165 operated by the public employee, unless required by the
agency employing the public employee.
(h) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 42001, a violation
of subdivision (d), (e), or (f) is an infraction punishable by a fine
of not more than twenty dollars ($20) for a first offense, and a
fine of not more than fifty dollars ($50) for each subsequent
offense. In lieu of the fine and any penalty assessment or court
costs, the court, pursuant to Section 42005, may order that a person
convicted of a first offense attend a school for traffic violators or
any other court-approved program in which the proper use of safety
belts is demonstrated.
(i) In a civil action, a violation of subdivision (d), (e), or (f)
or information of a violation of subdivision (h) does not establish
negligence as a matter of law or negligence per se for comparative
fault purposes, but negligence may be proven as a fact without regard
to the violation.
(j) If the United States Secretary of Transportation fails to
adopt safety standards for manual safety belt systems by September 1,
1989, a motor vehicle manufactured after that date for sale or sold
in this state shall not be registered unless it contains a manual
safety belt system which meets the performance standards applicable
to automatic crash protection devices adopted by the Secretary of
Transportation pursuant to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No.
208 (49 C.F.R. 571.208) as in effect on January 1, 1985.
(k) Each motor vehicle offered for original sale in this state
which has been manufactured on or after September 1, 1989, shall
comply with the automatic restraint requirements of Section S4.1.2.1
of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 (49 C.F.R. 571.208),
as published in Volume 49 of the Federal Register, No. 138, page
29009. An automobile manufacturer who sells or delivers a motor
vehicle subject to the requirements of this subdivision, and fails to
comply with this subdivision, shall be punished by a fine of not
more than five hundred dollars ($500) for each sale or delivery of a
noncomplying motor vehicle.
(l) Compliance with subdivision (j) or (k) by a manufacturer shall
be made by self-certification in the same manner as
self-certification is accomplished under federal law.
(m) This section does not apply to a person actually engaged in
delivery of newspapers to customers along the person's route if the
person is properly restrained by a safety belt prior to commencing
and subsequent to completing delivery on the route.
(n) This section does not apply to a person actually engaged in
collection and delivery activities as a rural delivery carrier for
the United States Postal Service if the person is properly restrained
by a safety belt prior to stopping at the first box and subsequent
to stopping at the last box on the route.
(o) This section does not apply to a driver actually engaged in
the collection of solid waste or recyclable materials along that
driver's collection route if the driver is properly restrained by a
safety belt prior to commencing and subsequent to completing the
collection route.
(p) Subdivisions (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) shall become
inoperative immediately upon the date that the United States
Secretary of Transportation, or his or her delegate, determines to
rescind the portion of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No.
208 (49 C.F.R. 571.208) which requires the installation of automatic
restraints in new motor vehicles, except that those subdivisions
shall not become inoperative if the secretary's decision to rescind
that Standard No. 208 is not based, in any respect, on the enactment
or continued operation of those subdivisions.
SEC. 2. Section 27360 of the Vehicle Code is repealed.
SEC. 3. Section 27360 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
27360. (a) A parent, legal guardian, or driver shall not
transport on a highway in a motor vehicle, as defined in Section
27315, a child or ward who is under eight years of age, without
properly securing that child in a rear seat in an appropriate child
passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal motor vehicle
safety standards.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a driver if the parent or
legal guardian of the child is also present in the motor vehicle and
is not the driver.
SEC. 4. Section 27360.5 of the Vehicle Code is repealed.
SEC. 5. Section 27360.5 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
27360.5. (a) A parent, legal guardian, or driver shall not
transport on a highway in a motor vehicle, as defined in Section
27315, a child or ward who is eight years of age or older, but less
than 16 years of age, without properly securing that child or ward in
an appropriate child passenger restraint system or safety belt
meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a driver if the parent or
legal guardian of the child is also present in the motor vehicle and
is not the driver.
SEC. 6. Section 27360.6 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
27360.6. (a) (1) For a conviction under Section 27360 or 27360.5,
a first offense is punishable by a fine of one hundred dollars
($100), except that the court may reduce or waive the fine if the
defendant establishes to the satisfaction of the court that he or she
is economically disadvantaged, and the court, instead, refers the
defendant to a community education program that includes, but is not
limited to, education on the proper installation and use of a child
passenger restraint system for children of all ages, and provides
certification to the court of completion of that program. Upon
completion of the program, the defendant shall provide proof of
participation in the program. If an education program on the proper
installation and use of a child passenger restraint system is not
available within 50 miles of the residence of the defendant, the
requirement to participate in that program shall be waived. If the
fine is paid, waived, or reduced, the court shall report the
conviction to the department pursuant to Section 1803.
(2) The court may require a defendant described under paragraph
(1) to attend an education program that includes demonstration of
proper installation and use of a child passenger restraint system and
provides certification to the court that the defendant has presented
for inspection a child passenger restraint system that meets
applicable federal safety standards.
(b) (1) A second or subsequent conviction of the same section is
punishable by a fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250), no part of
which may be waived by the court, except that the court may reduce or
waive the fine if the defendant establishes to the satisfaction of
the court that he or she is economically disadvantaged, and the
court, instead refers the defendant to a community education program
that includes, but is not limited to, education on the proper
installation and use of child passenger restraint systems for
children of all ages, and provides certification to the court of
completion of that program. Upon completion of the program, the
defendant shall provide proof of participation in the program. If an
education program on the proper installation and use of a child
passenger restraint system is not available within 50 miles of the
residence of the defendant, the requirement to participate in that
program shall be waived. If the fine is paid, waived, or reduced, the
court shall report the conviction to the department pursuant to
Section 1803.
(2) The court may require a defendant described under paragraph
(1) to attend an education program that includes demonstration of
proper installation and use of a child passenger restraint system and
provides certification to the court that the defendant has presented
for inspection a child passenger restraint system that meets
applicable federal safety standards.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the fines
collected under this section shall be allocated as follows:
(1) (A) Sixty percent to health departments of local jurisdictions
where the violation occurred, to be used for a community education
program that includes, but is not limited to, demonstration of the
installation of a child passenger restraint system for children of
all ages and also assists an economically disadvantaged family in
obtaining a restraint system through a low-cost purchase or loan. The
county or city health department shall designate a coordinator to
facilitate the creation of a special account and to develop a
relationship with the court system to facilitate the transfer of
funds to the program. The county or city may contract for the
implementation of the program. Prior to obtaining possession of a
child passenger restraint system pursuant to this section, a person
shall attend an education program that includes demonstration of
proper installation and use of a child passenger restraint system.
(B) As the proceeds from fines become available, county or city
health departments shall prepare and maintain a listing of all child
passenger restraint low-cost purchase or loaner programs in their
counties, including a semiannual verification that all programs
listed are in existence. Each county or city shall forward the
listing to the Office of Traffic Safety in the Business,
Transportation and Housing Agency and the courts, birthing centers,
community child health and disability prevention programs, county
clinics, prenatal clinics, women, infants, and children programs, and
county hospitals in that county, who shall make the listing
available to the public. The Office of Traffic Safety shall maintain
a listing of all of the programs in the state.
(2) Twenty-five percent to the county or city for the
administration of the program.
(3) Fifteen percent to the city, to be deposited in its general
fund except that, if the violation occurred in an unincorporated
area, this amount shall be allocated to the county for purposes of
paragraph (1).
SEC. 7. Section 27361 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
27361. A law enforcement officer reasonably suspecting a
violation of Section 27360 or 27360.5, may stop a vehicle
transporting a child appearing to the officer to be within the age
specified in Section 27360 or 27360.5. The officer may issue a notice
to appear for a violation of Section 27360 or 27360.5.
SEC. 8. Section 27363 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
27363. (a) The court may exempt from the requirements of this
article a class of child by age, weight, or size if it is determined
that the use of a child passenger restraint system would be
impractical by reason of physical unfitness, medical condition, or
size. The court may require satisfactory proof of the child's
physical unfitness, medical condition, or size and that an
appropriate special needs child passenger restraint system is not
available.
(b) In case of a life-threatening emergency, or when a child is
being transported in an authorized emergency vehicle, if a child
passenger restraint system is not available, a child may be
transported without the use of that system, but the child shall be
secured by a seatbelt.
(c) A child weighing more than 40 pounds may be transported in the
back seat of a vehicle while wearing only a lap safety belt when the
back seat of the vehicle is not equipped with a combination lap and
shoulder safety belt.
(d) (1) Notwithstanding Section 27360, a child or ward under the
age of eight years who is 4 feet 9 inches in height or taller may be
properly restrained by a safety belt rather than a child passenger
restraint system.
(2) For purposes of Section 27360, a child shall be properly
secured in a rear-facing child passenger restraint system unless that
child is one year of age or more and also weighs 20 pounds or more.
(e) For purposes of Section 27360, a child or ward under eight
years of age may ride properly secured in an appropriate child
passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal motor vehicle
safety standards in the front seat of a motor vehicle under the
following circumstances:
(1) There is no rear seat.
(2) The rear seats are side-facing jump seats.
(3) The rear seats are rear-facing seats.
(4) The child passenger restraint system cannot be installed
properly in the rear seat.
(5) All rear seats are already occupied by children seven years of
age or under.
(6) Medical reasons necessitate that the child or ward not ride in
the rear seat. The court may require satisfactory proof of the child'
s medical condition.
(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (e), a child shall not be
transported in a rear-facing child passenger restraint system in the
front seat of a motor vehicle that is equipped with an active frontal
passenger airbag.
SEC. 9. Section 27363.5 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
27363.5. (a) A public or private hospital, clinic, or birthing
center, shall, at the time of the discharge of a child provide and
discuss information on the current law requiring child passenger
restraint systems, safety belts, and transporting children in rear
seats to the parents or to the person to whom the child is released
if the child is under eight years of age.
(b) A public or private hospital, clinic, or birthing center shall
not be responsible for the failure of the parent or person to whom
the child is released to properly transport the child.
SEC. 10. Section 27365 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
27365. (a) (1) A car rental agency in California shall inform
each of its customers of Section 27360 by posting, in a place
conspicuous to the public in each established place of business of
the agency, a notice not smaller than 15 by 20 inches which states
the following: "CALIFORNIA LAW REQUIRES ALL CHILDREN UNDER 8 YEARS OF
AGE TO BE TRANSPORTED IN THE REAR SEAT OF THE VEHICLE IN A CHILD
RESTRAINT SYSTEM. THIS AGENCY IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE FOR RENTAL A
CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM
YOURSELF."
(2) The posted notice specified in paragraph (1) is not required
if the car rental agency's place of business is located in a hotel
that has a business policy prohibiting the posting of signs or
notices in any area of the hotel. In that case, a car rental agency
shall furnish a written notice to each customer that contains the
same information as required for the posted notice.
(b) A car rental agency in California shall have available for,
and shall, upon request, provide for rental to, adults traveling with
children under eight years of age, child passenger restraint systems
that are certified by the manufacturer to meet applicable federal
motor vehicle safety standards for use by children, are in good and
safe condition, with no missing original parts, and are not older
than five years.
(c) A violation of this section is an infraction punishable by a
fine of one hundred dollars ($100).
SEC. 11. Section 42001 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
42001. (a) Except as provided in this code, a person convicted of
an infraction for a violation of this code or of a local ordinance
adopted pursuant to this code shall be punished as follows:
(1) By a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100).
(2) For a second infraction occurring within one year of a prior
infraction that resulted in a conviction, a fine not exceeding two
hundred dollars ($200).
(3) For a third or a subsequent infraction occurring within one
year of two or more prior infractions that resulted in convictions, a
fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
(b) A pedestrian convicted of an infraction for a violation of
this code or a local ordinance adopted pursuant to this code shall be
punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars ($50).
(c) A person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) or (b) of
Section 27150.3 shall be punished by a fine of two hundred fifty
dollars ($250), and a person convicted of a violation of subdivision
(c) of Section 27150.3 shall be punished by a fine of one thousand
dollars ($1,000).
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a local public
entity that employs peace officers, as designated under Chapter 4.5
(commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code,
the California State University, and the University of California
may, by ordinance or resolution, establish a schedule of fines
applicable to infractions committed by bicyclists within its
jurisdiction. A fine, including all penalty assessments and court
costs, established pursuant to this subdivision shall not exceed the
maximum fine, including penalty assessment and court costs, otherwise
authorized by this code for that violation. If a bicycle fine
schedule is adopted, it shall be used by the courts having
jurisdiction over the area within which the ordinance or resolution
is applicable instead of the fines, including penalty assessments and
court costs, otherwise applicable under this code.
SEC. 12. Section 42002.1 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
42002.1. A person convicted of a misdemeanor violation of Section
2800, 2801, or 2803, insofar as it affects a failure to stop and
submit to inspection of equipment or for an unsafe condition
endangering a person, is punishable as follows:
(a) By a fine not exceeding fifty dollars ($50) or imprisonment in
the county jail not exceeding five days.
(b) For a second conviction within a period of one year, a fine
not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment in the
county jail not exceeding 10 days, or both that fine and
imprisonment.
(c) For a third or a subsequent conviction within a period of one
year, a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) or
imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or both
that fine and imprisonment.
SEC. 13. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.