| Summary |
Transportation Legislation Review Committee. The bill creates
the child passenger safety education and distribution grant program (grant
program) within the department of transportation (department). The
department is required to promulgate rules specifying the time frames for
applying for grants, the form of the grant program application, the criteria
for determining who is eligible for the grant program, the criteria the
department shall consider in awarding grants, and the deadlines for
distributing grant money.
Grant recipients shall use the money received through the grant
program for the following purposes:
•
To provide funding for the certification or recertification of
child passenger safety technicians;
•
To educate families on the child passenger safety laws; or
•
To create child restraint system distribution programs for
families of children who do not have a legally compliant
child restraint system.
The bill creates the child passenger safety education and
distribution grant program fund (fund) to pay for the grant program. The
fund consists of general fund money and any other gifts, grants, or
donations that the department receives. The department may use money
from the fund to pay the direct and indirect costs that the department
incurs to administer the grant program.
The bill changes the child restraint system requirements in existing
law as follows:
•
Increases the age at which children are required to use a
child restraint system from under 8 years of age to under 9
years of age and adds that a child under 57 inches in height,
regardless of age, must use a child restrain system;
•
Increases the age, from under one year of age to under 2
years of age, and the weight, from under 20 pounds to
under 40 pounds, of children who must be restrained in a
rear-facing child restraint system in a rear seat of the
vehicle;
•
Increases the age, from one year of age or older to 2 years
of age or older, of children who must be restrained in a
rear-facing or forward-facing child restraint system in a
rear seat of the vehicle, if a rear seat is available;
•
Adds a requirement that children who are at least 4 years of
age but under 9 years of age and who weigh at least 40
pounds utilize a booster seat, which must be situated in a
rear seat of the vehicle, if a rear seat is available; and
•
Adds a requirement that children who are at least 9 years of
age but under 13 years of age sit in the rear seat of a
vehicle, if a rear seat is available, and be properly secured
with a safety belt.
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