GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	1 

SENATE BILL 1467*

Short Title:  Strengthen Child Restraint Law.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senators Martin of Guilford, Cooper; and Marshall.
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Referred to:  Judiciary II.
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May 25, 1994

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO STRENGTHEN THE REQUIREMENTS TO HAVE A CHILD IN A RESTRAINT SYSTEM WHILE OPERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 20-137.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-137.1.  Child restraint systems required.
(a)	Every driver who is transporting a child of less than 16 years of age shall have the child properly secured in a child passenger restraint system (car safety seat) which met applicable federal standards at the time of its manufacture.  The requirements of this section may be met when the child is five years of age or older by securing the child in a seat safety belt.
(b)	The provisions of this section shall not apply: (i) to ambulances or other emergency vehicles; or (ii) to vehicles which are not required by federal law or regulation to be equipped with seat belts.
(c)	Any person convicted of violating this section may be punished by a fine not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00).  No driver charged under this section for failure to have a child under five years of age properly secured in a restraint system shall be convicted if he produces at the time of his trial proof satisfactory to the court that he has subsequently acquired an approved child passenger restraint system.
(d)	No driver license points or insurance points shall be assessed for a violation of this section; nor shall a violation constitute negligence per se or contributory negligence per se nor shall it be evidence of negligence or contributory negligence."
Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 1994.