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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
AMENDED
May 16, 2001
H. 3719
Introduced by Reps. Harrison, Wilkins, Townsend, W.D. Smith, Huggins, Littlejohn, Lourie, Gilham, Webb, Martin, Lloyd, D.C. Smith, McLeod and Snow
S. Printed 5/16/01--H. [SEC 5/17/01 4:03 PM]
Read the first time March 15, 2001.
TO AMEND SECTIONS 56-5-6520 AND 56-5-6540, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BOTH RELATING TO THE USE OF SAFETY BELTS IN MOTOR VEHICLES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THE DRIVER IS CHARGED WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY OF REQUIRING EACH OCCUPANT SIX YEARS OF AGE UP TO AND UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE TO WEAR A SAFETY BELT OR BE SECURED IN A CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM, TO INCREASE THE FINE, TO PROVIDE LAW ENFORCEMENT MAY STOP A DRIVER WHEN A DRIVER UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN OR AN OCCUPANT UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN IS NOT WEARING A SAFETY BELT OR IS NOT SECURED IN A CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEM, AND TO PROVIDE THAT PROBABLE CAUSE FOR A VIOLATION OF THIS ARTICLE MUST BE BASED ON A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER'S CLEAR AND UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW OF A PERSON UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN NOT RESTRAINED AS REQUIRED BY THIS ARTICLE.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. 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 use. The driver is charged with the responsibility of requiring each occupant over six years of age up to and under seventeen eighteen years of age 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 under eighteen years of age who has a driver's license or beginner's permit and who is not wearing a seatbelt; such occupant is in violation of this article and must be fined in accordance with Section 56-5-640.
SECTION 2. Section 56-5-6540 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 56-5-6540. (A) A person violating 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 not stop and issue a citation to a driver solely for a violation of this article in the absence of another violation of the motor vehicle laws except when a driver under the age of eighteen years or an occupant of the motor vehicle under the age of eighteen years of age is not wearing a safety belt or is not secured in a child restraint system as required by Article 47, or except 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. A citation for a violation of this article must not be issued without citing the violation that initially caused the officer to effect the enforcement stop.
(C) A violation of this article does not constitute negligence per se or contributory negligence and is not admissible as evidence in a civil action.
(D) Probable cause for a violation of this article must be based on a law enforcement officer's clear and unobstructed view of a person under the age of eighteen not restrained as required by this article. No vehicle, driver, or occupant in a vehicle may be searched solely as a result of a violation of this article."
SECTION 3. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 56-5-6525. The Department of Public Safety or other law enforcement agencies may not use a 'Click It or Ticket' campaign or a similar endeavor of systematic traffic stops as a law enforcement tool whose principal purpose is to detect and issue tickets to violators of the provisions of this article on either a primary or secondary basis."
SECTION 4. Section 56-5-6410 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 115 of 1999, 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 years of age 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 to twenty pounds and one year of age 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 between twenty pounds and one year of age to forty pounds and age four 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 up to the age of six years who is between forty and 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 up to the age of six years is over eighty pounds, the child may be restrained in an adult seat belt. If a child under the age of six years 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 moved out of the booster seat into the regular back seat and secured by the adult seat belt.
(5) A child under six years of age may 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 under 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 5. 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 6. This act takes effect July 1, 2001, and applies to all offenses committed on or after that date.
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