SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 710
92ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Reported from the Committee on Transportation and Motor Vehicles, May 6, 2004, with recommendation that the House Committee Substitute for Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 710 Do Pass.
STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 210.104 and 210.107, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to motor vehicle safety, with penalty provisions and an effective date for certain sections.
Section A. Sections 210.104 and 210.107, RSMo, are repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 307.156, 307.179 and 1, to read as follows:
307.156. Any person, firm, or corporation which owns or operates a business engaged in whole or in part in servicing motor vehicles and installs or purports to install an airbag in a motor vehicle and either:
(1) Installs an airbag that does not meet all applicable federal safety regulations for an airbag installed in a vehicle of that make, model, and year; or
(2) Installs an airbag which has previously been installed in another motor vehicle without disclosing in writing to the owner or lessee of the vehicle receiving such airbag installation that a used airbag has been installed in it, shall be guilty of a class D felony.
307.179. 1. As used in this section, the following terms shall mean:
(1) "Child booster seat", a seating system which meets the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards set forth in 49 C.F.R. 571.213, as amended, that is designed to elevate a child to properly sit in a federally approved safety belt system;
(2) "Child passenger restraint system", a seating system which meets the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards set forth in 49 C.F.R. 571.213, as amended, and which is either permanently affixed to a motor vehicle or is affixed to such vehicle by a safety belt or a universal attachment system;
(3) "Driver", a person who is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle.
2. Every person transporting a child under the age of sixteen years shall be responsible, when transporting such child in a motor vehicle operated by that person on the streets or highways of this state, for providing for the protection of such child as follows:
(1) Children less than four years of age, regardless of weight, or children weighing less than forty pounds, regardless of age, shall be secured in a child passenger restraint system appropriate for that child;
(2) Children four through five years of age shall be secured in a child passenger restraint system or booster seat appropriate for that child;
(3) Children at least six years of age shall be secured by a vehicle safety belt, child passenger restraint system, or booster seat;
(4) A child weighing more than forty pounds, who would otherwise be required to be secured in a booster seat, may be transported in the back seat of a motor vehicle while wearing only a lap belt if the back seat of the motor vehicle is not equipped with a combination lap and shoulder belt for booster seat installation.
3. Any person who violates this section is guilty of an infraction and, upon conviction, may be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five dollars and court costs. In no case shall points be assessed against any person, pursuant to section 302.302, RSMo, for violation of this section. If a person receives a citation for violating this section, the charges shall be dismissed or withdrawn if the person prior to or at his or her hearing provides evidence of acquisition of a child passenger restraint system or child booster seat which is satisfactory to the court or the party responsible for prosecuting the person's citation.
4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any public carrier for hire or to school buses as defined in section 301.010, RSMo, unless such school bus has been equipped with safety belts or is required to be equipped with safety belts pursuant to federal motor vehicle safety standards.
5. The department of public safety shall initiate and develop a program of public information to develop understanding of, and ensure compliance with the provisions of this section. The department of public safety may promulgate rules and regulations for the enforcement of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo, are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the effective date or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2003, shall be invalid and void.
Section 1. Whenever Missouri driving statutes are altered, the Missouri Department of Revenue shall notify licensed Missouri motorists via public service announcements or other mass communication means of said changes before those changes become effective.
[210.104. 1. Every person transporting a child under the age of four years shall be responsible, when transporting such child in a motor vehicle operated by that person on the streets or highways of this state, for providing for the protection of such child. Such child shall be protected by a child passenger restraint system approved by the department of public safety.
2. Any person who violates this section is guilty of an infraction and, upon conviction, may be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five dollars and court costs.
3. The provisions of sections 210.104 to 210.107 shall not apply to any public carrier for hire.]
[210.107. The department of public safety shall initiate and develop a program of public information to develop understanding of, and ensure compliance with the provisions of sections 210.104 to 210.107. The department of public safety shall, within thirty days of September 28, 1983, promulgate standards for the performance, design, and installation of passenger restraint systems for children under four years of age in accordance with federal motor vehicle safety standards and shall approve those systems which meet such standards. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated under the authority of sections 210.104 to 210.107 shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section 536.024, RSMo.]
Section B. The enactment of section 307.179 and the repeal of sections 210.104 and 210.107 of section A of this act shall become effective January 1, 2005.