GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

H	4 

HOUSE BILL 57
Committee Substitute Favorable 3/22/99
Committee Substitute #2 Favorable 4/5/99
Fourth Edition Engrossed 4/8/99

Short Title:  Motor Vehicle Occupant Restraints.	(Public)

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Sponsors:

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Referred to:  

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February 10, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO ENHANCE MOTOR VEHICLE OCCUPANT RESTRAINT SAFETY.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 20-135.2A(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Each front seat occupant who is 16 years of age or older and each driver of a passenger motor vehicle manufactured with seat belts shall have a seat belt properly fastened about his or her body at all times when the vehicle is in forward motion on a street or highway in this State.  When the vehicle is equipped with sufficient seat belts to accommodate each passenger seated in a rear seat, each rear seat occupant who is 16 years of age or older shall have a seat belt properly fastened about his or her body in compliance with this section. "
Section 2.  G.S. 20-135.2A(e) reads as rewritten:
"(e)	Any driver or passenger who fails to wear a seat belt as required by this section shall have committed an infraction and shall pay a penalty of twenty-five dollars ($25.00).  A person found responsible for a violation of this section may not be assessed court costs."
Section 3.  G.S. 20-135.2A(h) is repealed.
Section 4.  G.S. 20-135.2B(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Any person violating this section shall have committed an infraction and shall pay a penalty of twenty-five dollars ($25.00). A person found responsible for a violation of this section may not be assessed court costs."
Section 5.  Section 3 of Chapter 672 of the 1993 Session Laws is repealed.
Section 6.  G.S. 20-137.1(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Every driver who is transporting one or more passengers of less than 16 years of age shall have all such passengers properly secured in a child passenger restraint system or seat belt which meets federal standards applicable at the time of its manufacture.  In vehicles equipped with active passenger-side front air bags, children shall be properly secured in a rear seat unless the child restraint system is designed for use with air bags or the child is in a properly fitted shoulder and seat belt:
(1)	A child less than five years of age and less than 40 pounds in weight shall be properly secured in a child passenger restraint system.
(2)	A child five years of age or older, or a child weighing 40 or more pounds, shall be properly secured in a child passenger restraint system or seat belt."
Section 7.  G.S. 20-137.1(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Any person convicted of violating this section may be punished by a penalty 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."
Section 8.  This act becomes effective October 1, 1999.