REPORT TITLE:
Child Passenger Restraints


DESCRIPTION:
Requires child under four years old instead of under three years
old to be properly restrained in child passenger restraint
system.  Deletes language in HRS that allows child three years
old or older to be restrained in a seat belt assembly.  (SD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           H.D. 1        
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that, according to the
 
 2 National Traffic Safety Administration, many children die or are
 
 3 disabled in survivable crashes because they were not properly
 
 4 restrained in car seats or seat belts.  In Hawaii, children
 
 5 between the ages of three and four who ride in cars may be
 
 6 legally, but unsafely, restrained with seat belts rather than car
 
 7 seats.  Seat belts are designed for older children and adults,
 
 8 not children in this age group whose size and physical
 
 9 development make seat belts less effective and, in some cases,
 
10 unsafe.  The legislature also recognizes that Hawaii's child
 
11 passenger restraint law does not conform to the age standard
 
12 proposed in the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and
 
13 Ordinances' model child restraint law.  Adhering to the
 
14 nationally recommended age standard will not only increase the
 
15 protection afforded to children in this age group, but it will
 
16 also clarify Hawaii's law, making compliance and enforcement more
 
17 likely.
 
18      The purpose of this Act is to increase the safety of
 
19 Hawaii's children by amending Hawaii's child passenger restraint
 

 
Page 2                                                     H.B. 1
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 1 law to reflect the National Traffic Safety Administration's
 
 2 recommendations.
 
 3      SECTION 2.  Section 291-11.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 4 amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
 
 5      "(a)  Except as otherwise provided in this section, no
 
 6 person operating a motor vehicle on a public highway in the State
 
 7 shall transport a child under four years of age [except under the
 
 8 following circumstances:
 
 9      (1)  If the child is under three years of age,] unless the
 
10           person operating the motor vehicle [shall ensure]
 
11           ensures that the child is properly restrained in a
 
12           child passenger restraint system approved by the United
 
13           States Department of Transportation at the time of its
 
14           manufacture[; or
 
15      (2)  If the child is three years of age or older but less
 
16           than four years of age, the person operating the motor
 
17           vehicle must either ensure that the child is properly
 
18           restrained in a child passenger restraint system
 
19           approved by the United States Department of
 
20           Transportation at the time of its manufacture or ensure
 
21           that the child is restrained by a seat belt assembly]."
 
22      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
23 New statutory material is underscored.
 

 
Page 3                                                     H.B. 1
                                     H.B. NO.           H.D. 1
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 1      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.