2007-2008 Bill 369: Smoking in Vehicles - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 117th Session, 2007-2008 3 4 S. 369 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Senators Jackson, Lourie, Leventis, Hutto, Pinckney and Ford 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\swb\5105cm07.doc 11 Companion/Similar bill(s): 3253 12 13 Introduced in the Senate on January 31, 2007 14 Introduced in the House on April 18, 2007 15 Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary 16 17 Summary: Smoking in vehicles 18 19 20 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 21 22 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 23 1/31/2007 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-13 24 1/31/2007 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-13 25 3/23/2007 Senate Referred to Subcommittee: Hutto (ch), Jackson, Knotts, Bryant 26 4/12/2007 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment Judiciary SJ-18 27 4/13/2007 Scrivener's error corrected 28 4/17/2007 Senate Committee Amendment Amended and Adopted SJ-15 29 4/17/2007 Senate Read second time SJ-15 30 4/18/2007 Scrivener's error corrected 31 4/18/2007 Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-14 32 4/18/2007 House Introduced and read first time HJ-124 33 4/18/2007 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-124 34 35 36 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 37 38 1/31/2007 39 4/12/2007 40 4/13/2007 41 4/17/2007 42 4/18/2007 43 1 Indicates Matter Stricken 2 Indicates New Matter 3 4 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT AMENDED AND ADOPTED 5 April 17, 2007 6 7 S. 369 8 9 Introduced by Senators Jackson, Lourie, Leventis, Hutto, Pinckney 10 and Ford 11 12 S. Printed 4/17/07--S. [SEC 4/18/07 1:34 PM] 13 Read the first time January 31, 2007. 14 15 16

1 [369-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 12 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 56-5-3910 SO AS TO PROVIDE 13 THAT IT IS UNLAWFUL FOR A DRIVER OR OCCUPANT OF 14 A MOTOR VEHICLE TO SMOKE A TOBACCO PRODUCT 15 WHILE A CHILD WHO IS LESS THAN TEN YEARS OLD IS 16 ALSO AN OCCUPANT OF THE MOTOR VEHICLE, AND TO 17 PROVIDE A PENALTY. 18 Amend Title To Conform 19 20 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 21 Carolina: 22 23 SECTION 1. Article 47, Chapter 5, Title 56 of the 1976 Code is 24 amended to read: 25 26 “Section 56-5-6410. Every driver of a motor vehicle (passenger 27 car, pickup truck, van, or recreational vehicle) operated on the 28 highways and streets of this State when transporting a child five 29 years of age or younger upon the public streets and highways of 30 the State must provide an appropriate child passenger restraint 31 system and must secure the child as follows: 32 (1) A child from birth up to one year of age or who weighs less 33 than twenty pounds must be properly secured in a rear-facing child 34 safety seat which meets the standards prescribed by the National 35 Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 36 (2) A child who is at least one year of age but less than six 37 years of age and who weighs at least twenty pounds but less than 38 forty pounds must be secured in a forward-facing child safety seat 39 provided in the motor vehicle which meets the standards 40 prescribed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 41 (3) A child who is at least one year of age but less than six 42 years of age and who weighs at least forty pounds but not more

1 [369] 1 1 than eighty pounds must be secured by a belt-positioning booster 2 seat. The belt-positioning booster seat must be used with both lap 3 and shoulder belts. A booster seat must not be used with a lap belt 4 alone. 5 (4) If a child is at least one year of age but less than six years 6 of age and weighs more than eighty pounds, the child may be 7 restrained in an adult safety belt. If a child less than six years of 8 age can sit with his back straight against the vehicle seat back 9 cushion, with his knees bent over the vehicle’s seat edge without 10 slouching, the child may be seated in the regular back seat and 11 secured by an adult safety belt. 12 (5) A child who is less than six years of age must not occupy a 13 front passenger seat of a motor vehicle. This restriction does not 14 apply if the motor vehicle does not have rear passenger seats or if 15 all rear passenger seats are occupied by other children less than six 16 years of age. 17 Any child restraint system of a type sufficient to meet the 18 physical standards prescribed by the National Highway Traffic 19 Safety Administration at the time of its manufacture is sufficient to 20 meet the requirements of this article. 21 22 Section 56-5-6420. If all the seating positions with restraint 23 devices are occupied by children under the age of six years, a child 24 may be transported and the driver of the motor vehicle is not in 25 violation of the provisions of this article Section 56 - 5 - 6410, but 26 priority must be given to children under the age of six years, 27 according to their ages. 28 29 Section 56 -5-6440. The provisions of this article Section 30 56 - 5 - 6410 do not apply to: 31 (1) taxi drivers.; 32 (2) drivers of emergency vehicles when operating in an 33 emergency situation.; 34 (3) church, day care, and school bus drivers.; 35 (4) public transportation operators.; and 36 (5) commercial vehicles. 37 38 Section 56-5-6445. The provisions of this article Section 39 56 - 5 - 6410 apply to all motor vehicles equipped with safety belts. 40 41 Section 56-5-6450. A person who violates the provisions of this 42 article Section 56 - 5 - 6410, upon conviction, must be fined not more 43 than one hundred fifty dollars. The court shall waive the fine

1 [369] 2 1 against a person who, before, or upon the appearance date on the 2 summons, supplies the court with evidence of acquisition, 3 purchase, or rental of a child restraint system meeting the 4 requirements of this article Section 56 - 5 - 6410. 5 6 Section 56-5-6460. A violation of this article Section 56 - 5 - 6410 7 shall not constitute negligence, per se, contributory negligence nor 8 be admissible as evidence in any trial of any civil action. 9 10 Section 56-5-6470. After June 30, 1984, any person violating the 11 provisions of Article 47 of Chapter 5 of Title 56 may be, when 12 apprehended, issued a summons, to appear in court for the 13 violation, but no person shall at any time be placed under arrest or 14 taken into custody for such a violation, other than upon a warrant 15 issued for failure to appear in court in accordance with the 16 summons or upon failure to pay a fine duly imposed by a court 17 upon conviction. 18 19 Section 56-5-6480. (A) It is unlawful for a driver or occupant of 20 a private or public passenger motor vehicle to smoke a tobacco 21 product while a child ten years of age or younger is in the motor 22 vehicle. 23 (B) A person who violates this subsection is guilty of a 24 misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than 25 one hundred dollars.” 26 27 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 28 Governor. 29 ----XX---- 30

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