Download This Version in Microsoft Word format
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
HOUSE AMENDMENTS AMENDED
June 7, 2001
S. 187
S. Printed 6/7/01--S.
Read the first time March 6, 2001.
TO AMEND SECTION 56-5-6410, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE USE OF A CHILD PASSENGER RESTRAINT SYSTEM IN A MOTOR VEHICLE THAT TRANSPORTS A CHILD UNDER SIX YEARS OF AGE, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A CHILD FOUR YEARS OF AGE OR MORE WHO CANNOT SIT WITH THEIR BACKS STRAIGHT AGAINST THE VEHICLE SEAT BACK CUSHION WITH KNEES BENT OVER A VEHICLE'S SEAT EDGE MUST BE SECURED BY A BELT-POSITIONING BOOSTER SEAT PRESCRIBED BY THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 56-5-6410 of the 1976 Code is further amended to read:
"Section 56-5-6410. Every driver of a motor vehicle (passenger car, pickup truck, van, or recreational vehicle) registered in this State or primarily operated on the highways and streets of this State when transporting a child under six five years of age or younger upon the public streets and highways of the State shall must provide an appropriate child passenger restraint system and shall must secure the child as follows:
(1) Any A child three years of age or less from birth up to one year of age or who weighs less than twenty pounds must be properly secured in a rear-facing child restraint system safety seat which meets the standards prescribed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
(2) Any A child four or five years of age who is at least one year of age but less than six years of age and who weighs at least twenty pounds but less than forty pounds must be secured by a in a forward-facing child safety belt seat provided in the motor vehicle unless properly secured in a child restraint system which meets the standards prescribed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
(3) A child who is at least one year of age but less than six years of age and who weighs at least forty pounds but not more than eighty pounds must be secured by a belt-positioning booster seat. The belt-positioning booster seat must be used with both lap and shoulder belts. A booster seat must not be used with a lap belt alone.
(4) If a child is at least one year of age but less than six years of age and weighs more than eighty pounds, the child may be restrained in an adult safety belt. If a child less than six years of age can sit with his back straight against the vehicle seat back cushion, with his knees bent over the vehicle's seat edge without slouching, the child may be seated in the regular back seat and secured by an adult safety belt.
(5) A child who is less than six years of age must not occupy a front passenger seat of a motor vehicle. This restriction does not apply if the motor vehicle does not have rear passenger seats or if all rear passenger seats are occupied by other children less than six years of age.
Any child restraint system of a type sufficient to meet the physical standards prescribed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at the time of its manufacture is sufficient to meet the requirements of this article."
SECTION 2. Section 56-5-6520 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 56-5-6520. The driver and every occupant of a motor vehicle, when it is being operated on the public streets and highways of this State, shall must wear a fastened safety belt which complies with all provisions of federal law for their its use. The driver is charged with the responsibility of requiring each occupant over six and under seventeen years of age or younger to wear a safety belt or be secured in a child restraint system as provided in Article 47 of this chapter. However, a driver is not responsible for an occupant seventeen years of age or younger who has a driver's license, special restricted license, or beginner's permit and who is not wearing a seat belt; such occupant is in violation of this article and must be fined in accordance with Section 56-5-640."
SECTION 3. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 56-5-6525. The Department of Public Safety or any other law enforcement agency must not use a 'Click It or Ticket' campaign or a similar endeavor of systematic checkpoints or roadblocks as a law enforcement tool where the principal purpose is to detect and issue a ticket to a violator of the provisions of this article on either a primary or secondary basis."
SECTION 4. Section 56-5-6530 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding an appropriately numbered item at the end to read:
"( ) a driver or occupants in a vehicle not originally equipped with safety belts."
SECTION 5. Section 56-5-6540 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 56-5-6540. (A) A person violating who violates the provisions of this article, upon conviction, must be fined not more than ten twenty-five dollars, all or part of which may be suspended. No court costs, assessments, or surcharges may be assessed against the person convicted. No person may be fined more than twenty fifty dollars for any one incident of one or more violations of the provisions of this article. No custodial arrest for a violation of this article may be made, except upon a warrant issued for failure to appear in court when summoned or for failure to pay an imposed fine. A conviction for violation of this article does not constitute a criminal offense. Notwithstanding Section 56-1-640, a conviction for a violation of this article must not be included in the offender's motor vehicle records maintained by the Department of Public Safety or in the criminal records maintained by SLED.
(B) A law enforcement officer may must not stop a driver for a violation of this article in the absence of another violation of the motor vehicle laws except as follows:
(1) when the officer has probable cause for a violation of this article based on his clear and unobstructed view of a driver seventeen years of age or younger or an occupant of the motor vehicle seventeen years of age or younger who is not wearing a safety belt or is not secured in a child restraint system as required by Article 47; or
(2) when the stop is made in conjunction with a driver's license check or registration check conducted at a checkpoint established to stop all drivers on a certain road for a period of time.
(C) A citation for a violation of this article, except for a citation issued pursuant to a stop made under subsection (B)(1), must not be issued without citing the violation that initially caused the officer to effect the enforcement stop.
(D) A citation issued pursuant to a stop made under subsection (B)(1) may be issued without citing any other violation.
(C)(E) A violation of this article does not constitute negligence per se or contributory negligence, and is not admissible as evidence in a civil action.
(F) No vehicle, driver, or occupant in a vehicle may be searched solely because of a violation of this article or a stop made under subsection (B)(1)."
SECTION 6. This act takes effect July 1, 2001, and applies to all offenses committed on or after that date.
This web page was last updated on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 2:08 P.M.