CHAPTER 244
HB 273-FN - FINAL VERSION
19mar97.....0648h
28may97.....0014 EBA
1997 SESSION
97-0166
03/08
HOUSE BILL 273-FN
AN ACT increasing the age that child passenger restraints are required from 12 years of age to 18 years of age.
SPONSORS: Rep. Cloutier, Sull 8; Rep. Gleason, Rock 13; Rep. M. Whalley, Merr 5; Rep. Copenhaver, Graf 10; Rep. Pilliod, Belk 3; Sen. Squires, Dist 12; Sen. K. Wheeler, Dist 21; Sen. Roberge, Dist 9; Sen. Pignatelli, Dist 13
COMMITTEE: Transportation
AMENDED ANALYSIS
This bill modifies the child passenger restraint law by increasing the age that restraints are required from 12 years of age to 18 years of age, imposing a schedule of fines for violations of the law, and clarifying the enforcement of the law.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
19mar97.....0648h
28may97.....0014 EBA
97-0166
03/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety-Seven
AN ACT increasing the age that child passenger restraints are required from 12 years of age to 18 years of age.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
244:1 Age Increased. Amend RSA 265:107-a, I to read as follows:
I. No person shall drive a motor vehicle on any way while carrying as a passenger a [child] person less than [12] 18 years of age unless such [child] person is wearing a seat or safety belt which is properly adjusted and fastened or, if the [child] person is less than 4 years of age, unless such [child] person is properly fastened and secured by a child passenger restraint which is in accordance with the safety standards approved by the United States Department of Transportation in 49 C.F.R. section 571.213. No person shall drive a motor vehicle on any way while carrying as a passenger a [child] person less than [12] 18 years of age unless the motor vehicle was designed for and equipped with the [child] passenger restraints specified above.
244:2 New Paragraph; Safety Belt Required for Drivers Under 18. Amend RSA 265:107-a by inserting after paragraph I the following new paragraph:
I-a. No person who is less than 18 years of age shall drive a motor vehicle on any way unless such person is wearing a seat or safety belt which is properly adjusted and fastened.
244:3 Fines Established. Amend RSA 265:107-a, III to read as follows:
III. Any driver who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a violation[.] , and shall be subject to the following fines:
(a) $25 for a first offense.
(b) $50 for a second or subsequent offense.
244:4 New Paragraphs; Relation to Other Offenses. Amend RSA 265:107-a by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraphs:
V. A conviction for violating the provisions of this section shall not preclude prosecution of any other offense for which violation of this section might constitute an element.
VI. Enforcement of this section by law enforcement agencies shall be accomplished only as a secondary action when a driver of a motor vehicle has been cited or charged with a violation or some other offense; provided, however, that a motor vehicle may be stopped for failure to comply with this section if the seat belt violation is for a person under 12 years of age.
244:5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
(Approved: June 19, 1997)
(Effective Date: August 18, 1997)
LBAO
97-0166
1/9/97
FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT increasing the age that child passenger restraints are required from 12 years of age to 18 years of age.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Safety has determined that this bill will increase state general fund revenue by an indeterminable amount. There is no fiscal impact on county and local revenues or state, county and local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department is unable to determine the fiscal impact of this bill since they cannot determine whether extending the seat belt law to the age of 18 will result in increased violation of the law and to what extent revenue from fines will be affected.