BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1452
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1452 (Hill)
As Introduced January 5, 2012
Majority vote
TRANSPORTATION 13-0 APPROPRIATIONS 14-1
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|Ayes:|Carter, Jeffries, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Achadjian, Blumenfield, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Bonilla, Buchanan, Eng, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Furutani, Galgiani, | |Davis, Gatto, Hill, Lara, |
| |Logue, Miller, | |Mitchell, Nielsen, |
| |Portantino, Solorio | |Solorio, Wagner |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Donnelly |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires medical facilities, when discharging children
under age eight or younger to provide additional child safety
seat information to parents and guardians. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Makes findings and declarations regarding the lethal effects
of motor vehicle crashes, the benefits of child safety seat
use in reducing fatal injuries to children, and the proper
installation of child safety seats.
2)Requires a public or private hospital, clinic, or birthing
center to provide and discuss with parents or other persons to
whom a child eight years old or younger is being released,
information on how to obtain no cost or low cost assistance
with child passenger restraint system requirements,
installation, and inspections.
3)Specifies that, beyond providing the specified information,
hospitals, clinics, and birthing centers are not required to
provide patients with additional assistance relating to child
passenger restraint systems.
4)Specifies that contact information provided by the hospital,
clinic or birthing center may include the following:
AB 1452
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a) 1-866-SEAT-CHECK or www.seatcheck.org;
b) The telephone number of the local office of the
Department of California Highway Patrol (CHP);
c) The Internet Web site for the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) child safety seat
inspection station locator; and,
d) The Internet Web site for the State Department of Public
Health's child passenger restraint system safety inspection
locator.
5)Repeals and recasts provisions related to the requirement that
public or private hospitals, clinics, birthing centers provide
parents or other responsible parties information regarding
current child safety seat laws and requirements when a child
age eight or younger is being discharged.
6)Makes related clarifying amendments.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Makes findings and declarations regarding the benefits of
seatbelt use.
2)Authorizes a law enforcement officer to stop a vehicle if the
officer suspects that a child is being transported in
violation of child restraint requirements.
3)Requires hospitals, clinics, and birthing centers to provide
information about current child safety restraint laws to
parents or persons to whom a child is being released.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill would result in minor costs to hospitals,
clinics, and other medical facilities (including the University
of California and other public facilities) to provide the
additional information.
COMMENTS : This bill is essentially a reintroduction of AB 2667
(Hill) of 2010, that was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. By
reintroducing this legislation, the author seeks to improve upon
current law by providing information to parents and guardians
AB 1452
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about existing child safety seat inspection resources that they
can utilize free of charge.
The author cites that over 90% of parents and caregivers believe
they have installed child safety seats correctly when, in fact,
the NHTSA research shows that seven out of 10 children are
improperly restrained, putting them at risk for serious injury
or death if involved in a car crash. The author notes that he
personally hosted various child seat safety check events in his
district and saw first-hand the alarming number of child safety
seats that were improperly installed.
Medical establishments are already required to discuss child
restraint laws and requirements with the parents and guardians
of the young children they treat and discharge. This bill would
simply require a medical establishment to also provide contact
information for organizations that can help determine whether
child safety seats are properly installed and provide additional
information on related requirements. Therefore, this bill
represents more of a refinement of an existing mandate, rather
than the establishment of a new one. It could also be argued
that in difficult economic times, parents and guardians would
welcome information on no- and low-cost options with regard to
child safety seat installation.
Related legislation: AB 2667 (Hill) of 2010, would have
required medical facilities to provide contact information to
parents or other responsible parties on no-cost or low-cost
assistance available for the inspection and installation of
child passenger restraint systems. That bill was vetoed by then
Governor Schwarzenegger on the grounds that the bill was
unnecessary given that parents should take responsibility for
the installation and use of child restraint systems.
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-
2093 FN:
0003201