Relates to child safety seat and seat belt requirements

Summary of provisions

Section 1 of this bill would amend Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) 1229-c(1)(a) to permit the securing of child restraint seats in accord- ance with the vehicle's manual or child restraint system manufacturer's instructions, and removes an exemption in the seat belt law which permits children under the age of 4 and weighing over 40 pounds to be secured in the rear seat by only the use of a lap safety belt if the vehicle is not equipped with combination lap and shoulder harness belts, or if all such combinations are being used to restrain other child passengers.

Section 2 of this bill would amend VTL § 1229-c(1 )(b) to remove the above-referenced exemption currently provided for child passengers over the age of 4 and under the age of 8.

Section 3 of this bill would amend VTL § 1 229-c(1)(c) to remove the age restrictions for the use of seat belts by rear seat passengers, thereby requiring that all rear seat passengers use a seat belt.

Section 4 of this bill would amend VTL §1229-c(2)(b) to remove the exemptions for front seat child passengers, as was done for rear seat passengers in bill section 1.

Section 5 of the bill would amend VTL §1229-c(13) to provide that a child between the ages of 4 and 7 being transported in a school bus that does not meet federal safety standards must be restrained in a booster seat.

Section 6 of the bill provides that it would take effect on the November 1 subsequent to it becoming law.

Existing law

Currently, only back seat passengers under the age of 16 are required to be restrained in a safety belt. Children between the ages of 4 and 6 who are passengers in a school bus must be restrained in a booster seat. Current law permits children under the age of 4 and weighing over 40 pounds to be secured by only the use of a lap safety belt if the vehicle

is not equipped with combination lap and shoulder harness belts, or if all such combinations are being used to restrain other child passengers.

Prior legislative history

Part of this bill, requiring all rear seat passengers to use a seat belt, was initially included in S.3623/A.8612 in 2009. However, although S.3623/A.8612, which raised the age of children required to use a boost- er seat, became law, the seat belt provision was deleted from the final version of the bill.

Statement in support

This bill will help reduce the number of serious injuries and fatalities resulting from motor vehicle crashes. A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released in June 2009 states: "An additional 4,152 lives would have been saved in 2008 if all unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants age 5 and older involved in fatal crashes had worn their seatbelts." An analysis of New York State by NHTSA indi- cates that 101 additional lives could have been saved with seatbelt use by all occupants. Requiring all occupants to wear safety belts will reduce the number of fatal and serious injuries.

The amendment to VTL § 1229-c(13) is necessary to correct an oversight in Chapter 405 of the Laws of 2009, which provided that children who are between the ages of 4 and 7 and are passengers in most motor vehicles must be restrained in a booster seat. Chapter 405 failed to include such children who are passengers in school buses that do not meet federal safety standards.

The amendments to VTL § 1229-c(1) and (2) reflect changes in the avail- ability and price of child restraint systems since the last revision of these subdivisions. There no longer exists a justification for the exemptions from the requirement of child passengers under 4 and weighing over 40 pounds from being restrained in booster seats. According to NHTSA, seats that are capable of fitting children weighing over forty pounds are widely available and their cost has decreased since the exemptions in the current law were enacted. These seats are secured according to the vehicle's manual or the manufacturer's specification, and are commonly referred to as Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH). It should be noted that failure to enact the amendments to these subdivisions and to subdivision 13 of section 1229-c will preclude DMV from receiving approximately $1 million in incentive grants from the National Highway Safety Administration to DMV for child passenger safety programs.

Budget implications

The amendments to the booster seats on school buses provision and the elimination of the seat belt exemption for children would make DMV eligible for a highway safety grant of approximately $1 million from the National Highway Safety Administration. This would not have a fiscal

impact on school districts, as a review has indicated that the vehicles at issue already have boosters installed.

Effective date

The bill would take effect on the first day of November after becoming law.