BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 929 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 929 (Evans) As Amended July 14, 2011 Majority vote SENATE VOTE : 26-12 TRANSPORTATION 8-3 APPROPRIATIONS 11-5 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Bonnie Lowenthal, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, | | |Blumenfield, Bonilla, | |Bradford, Charles | | |Buchanan, Eng, Furutani, | |Calderon, Campos, Gatto, | | |Galgiani, Portantino | |Hall, Hill, Lara, | | | | |Mitchell, Solorio | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Logue, Miller, Norby |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, | | | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Mandates that children remain in booster seats an additional two years until they reach age eight or four feet nine inches (4' 9") tall or taller. Specifically, this bill: 1)Defines "properly restrained by a safety belt" to mean that the lower (lap) portion of the belt crosses the hips or upper thighs of the occupant and the upper (shoulder) portion of the belt, if present, crosses the chest in front of the occupant. 2)Repeals and recasts provisions prohibiting the transport of a child under six years of age who weighs less than 60 pounds without being properly secured in a child safety seat and instead requires that a child be transported in a child safety seat until age eight. 3)Exempts children under age eight from the requirement to ride in a child safety seat if that child is 4' 9" tall or taller before his or her 8th birthday. 4)Eliminates the requirement for local governments to provide low cost or loaner child passenger safety restraints to persons found in violation of child safety seat laws. 5)Removes the requirement prohibiting infants from riding in the SB 929 Page 2 front seat of a car with an active air bag if they are one year of age or under 20 pounds and instead specifies that no child may ride in the front seat of a car with an active air bag if they are in a rear facing child passenger restraint. 6)Finds and declares that this bill allows the state to become eligible for federal grants pursuant to Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). 7) Makes related, clarifying amendments. EXISTING LAW : 1)Makes findings and declarations regarding the benefits of seatbelt use. 2)Requires children to ride properly in the back seat, in a safety seat or booster until they are at least six years old or weigh at least 60 pounds. 3)Authorizes children under age six who weigh less than 60 pounds to ride in the front seat if there is no forward facing rear seat in the vehicle; the child restraint cannot be properly installed in a rear seat; all rear seats are occupied by other children under age 12; or for medical reasons. 4)Authorizes children under age six who weigh over 40 pounds to wear a lap-only belt in the back seat if the vehicle has no shoulder belts in the back seat. 5)Prohibits an infant from riding in the front seat of a car with an active air bag if they are less than one year of age or less than 20 pounds or riding in a rear-facing child passenger restrain system. 6)Prohibits the operator of a limousine, taxicab or emergency vehicle from transporting passengers under six years of age in the front seat. 7)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. 8)Requires hospitals, clinics, and birthing centers to provide SB 929 Page 3 information about current child safety restraint laws to parents or persons to whom a child is being released. 9)Requires car rental agencies in California to inform customers of current child safety restraint laws, as specified. 10)Provides for fines and penalties for failure to comply with the seatbelt law including a $100 fine for the first offense and second and subsequent offenses levied at $250. 11)Provides that a portion of the fines and penalties assessed for child passenger restraint violations be used by county or city health departments, where the violation occurred, for education programs to demonstrate proper installation and use of child passenger restrain systems for children of all ages and for loan or low-cost purchase of child restraints. 12)Requires the county or city health department to designate a coordinator to facilitate the creation of an account to be used for the transfer of community education and assistance program funds. 13)Requires a person to attend a program demonstrating proper installation and use of a child safety seat prior to obtaining a child safety seat from a community assistance program. 14)Requires, as funds from fines become available, a county or city health department to maintain a listing of all child safety seat low-cost purchase or loaner programs in their county including a semiannual verification that all programs listed are in existence. 15)Requires each county to forward the listing to the Office of Traffic Safety in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency (BT&H), the courts, and all specified community centers and programs. 16)Requires BT&H, the courts and all specified community centers and programs to make the listing available to the public. 17)Requires the Office of Traffic Safety in BT&H to maintain a listing of all programs in the state. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill would result in negligible state costs. SB 929 Page 4 COMMENTS : According to the author, California's child passenger safety laws do not adequately protect children ages six and seven. By introducing this bill, the author intends to save children's lives and prevent injuries by mandating that children remain in booster seats an additional two years, until they turn eight years old. The author cites that under this bill, parents who currently own booster seats for children under age six could simply use the same booster seat for that child until he or she turns eight years old or until the child reaches 4' 9" in height. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends that children who have outgrown car seats with an internal harness (usually at about four years old), continue to ride in booster seats until they reach age eight years or until they are 4' 9" tall or taller, since booster seats help to ensure that the safety belt is positioned properly across the child and restrains, rather than injures, the child when an accident occurs. The cost of a booster seat typically ranges between $15 and $45. Despite this relatively low cost, booster seats, when used for children ages four to eight years old, can substantially reduce the risk of injury and death when a vehicle is involved in a crash. The child advocacy group, Partners for Child Passenger Safety (PCPS), reports that car crash injuries are the leading cause of death and acquired disability in children between ages four and eight. PCPS reports that children ages four through seven in states with booster seat laws are 39 % more likely to be appropriately restrained in a booster seat or child safety seat than children in states without such laws. PCPS also cites statistics showing that booster seat use for children ages four through seven decreases the risk of injury by 59 % as compared to the use of seat belts alone. Moreover, by requiring children to use booster seats for an additional two years, California would become eligible for federal transportation funds under SAFETEA-LU for public education programs and programs to provide no-cost and low-cost booster seats to families in need. While funding varies from year to year based on the number of applicants, overall grant funding available in prior years has ranged from $6 to $7 million per year. SB 929 Page 5 The author notes that, to date, 38 states and the District of Columbia have enacted provisions in their child passenger safety laws to address the use of booster seats for children who have outgrown their child safety seats but are too small to use an adult seat belt safely. In fact, the Legislature twice past legislation AB 1290 (Evans) of 2006 and AB 881 (Mullin) of 2007 requiring the use of booster seats until a child reaches age eight or 4' 9" in height. Then-Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed both bills. In his veto messages, the Governor who cited the need to work towards compliance with existing requirements rather than to enact new requirements as his reason for vetoing the bills. Arguably, there have been efforts by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to further increase compliance with existing seatbelt laws. CHP officers have executed a variety of campaigns in recent years to increase awareness regarding the importance of seat belt use for both children and adults. Funds for the campaign have been provided by the Office of Traffic Safety, specifically to fund overtime CHP officers to patrol roads and find drivers or passengers who are in violation of the seat belt laws or child safety restraint laws. Related legislation: SB 42 (Speier), Chapter 84, Statutes of 2001, required children less than six years of age or weighing less than 60 pounds to use a booster seat. AB 1697 (Pavley), Chapter 524, Statutes of 2003, required children under six years of age or under 60 pounds to be properly secured in a child passenger restraint system in the back seat of a vehicle. AB 2108 (Evans) of 2006, would have increased the age requirement for children to be restrained by a child passenger restraint system in the rear seat of a vehicle from the current six years of age to eight years old as well as removing the current 60 pound weight limit. That bill was vetoed by the Governor who stated in his veto message that education of and compliance with existing laws is a better way to protect children. AB 881 (Mullin) of 2007, would have increased the maximum age of children would be required to be restrained by a child passenger SB 929 Page 6 restraint system in the rear seat of a vehicle from the current six years of age to under eight years old or 4' 9" tall. That bill was again vetoed by the Governor. Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319- 2093 FN: 0001621