House/Senate Bill Pending to Add Exception to Florida CPS Law

** Edit 1/29: this language was removed from the bill.**

Florida House Bill 7063 and Senate Bill 1394 were introduced recently to add another exception (see item c. below underlined) to drivers being required to use child restraints: 

SB 1394: Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 316.613, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 

316.613 Child restraint requirements.— (1)(a) Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined in this section, while transporting a child in a motor vehicle operated on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall, if the child is 5 years of age or younger, provide for protection of the child by properly using a crash-tested, federally approved child restraint device.
1. For children aged through 3 years, such restraint device must be a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturer’s integrated child seat.
2. For children aged 4 through 5 years, a separate carrier, an integrated child seat, or a child booster seat may be used. However, the requirement to use a child restraint device under this subparagraph does not apply when a safety belt is used as required in s. 316.614(4)(a) and the child:
a. Is being transported gratuitously by an operator who is not a member of the child’s immediate family;
b. Is being transported in a medical emergency situation involving the child; or
c. Is being transported by a child care facility, family day care home, or large family child care home, as those terms are defined in s. 402.302; an after-school program not requiring licensure pursuant to chapter 402; a child care facility exempt pursuant to s. 402.316; or an entity excluded from the definition of child care facility pursuant to s. 402.302(2); or
d. Has a medical condition that necessitates an exception as evidenced by appropriate documentation from a health care professional.