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Section 1. NRS 484.474 is hereby amended to read
as follows:
484.474
1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5,
any person who is transporting a child who is less than 6 years of
age and who weighs 60 pounds or less in a motor vehicle operated in
this state which is equipped to carry passengers shall secure the
child in a child restraint system which:
(a) Has been approved by the United States
Department of Transportation in accordance with the Federal
Motor Vehicle Safety Standards set forth in 49 C.F.R. Part 571;
(b) Is appropriate for the size and weight of
the child; and
(c) Is installed within and attached safely
and securely to the motor vehicle:
(1) In accordance with the instructions
for installation and attachment provided by the manufacturer
of the child restraint system; or
(2) In another manner that is approved by
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
2. A person who violates the provisions of
subsection 1 shall be :
(a) Required to complete a program of training
conducted by a person or agency approved by the Department of
Public Safety in the installation and use of child restraint
systems; and
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this
paragraph, punished by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than
$500, or required to perform not less than 8 hours nor more than
50 hours of community service. The court may waive any amount of
the fine in excess of $50 or any amount of the community service
in excess of 8 hours if a person or agency approved by the
Department of Public Safety certifies that the violator has:
(1) Completed the program of training
required by paragraph (a); and
(2) Presented for inspection by the person
or agency an installed child restraint system that satisfies
the provisions of subsection 1. The court shall make
available a list of persons and agencies approved by the
Department of Public Safety to conduct programs of training
and perform inspections of child restraint systems.
3. For the purposes of NRS 483.473, a violation of
this section is not a moving traffic violation.
4. A violation of this section may not be
considered:
(a) Negligence in any civil action; or
(b) Negligence or reckless driving for the
purposes of NRS 484.377.
5. This section does not apply:
(a) To a person who is transporting a child in
a means of public transportation, including a taxi, school bus
or emergency vehicle.
(b) When a physician determines that the use
of such a child restraint system for the particular child would
be impractical or dangerous because of such factors as the
child’s weight, physical unfitness or medical condition. In this
case, the person transporting the child shall carry in the
vehicle the signed statement of the physician to that effect.
6. As used in this section, “child restraint
system” means any device that is designed for use in a motor vehicle
to restrain, seat or position children. The term includes, without
limitation:
(a) Booster seats and belt-positioning seats
that are designed to elevate or otherwise position a child so as
to allow the child to be secured with a safety belt;
(b) Integrated child seats; and
(c) Safety belts that are designed
specifically to be adjusted to accommodate children.
Sec. 2. NRS 484.641 [Seat Belt Law] is hereby
amended to read as follows:
NRS 484.641 Safety belts and shoulder harness
assembly; requirements for child and other passenger; penalty;
exemptions. [Effective June 1, 2004, until the date the Federal
Government rescinds the requirement for the installation of
automatic restraints in new private passenger motor vehicles, if
that action is based upon the enactment or continued operation of
certain amendatory and transitory provisions contained in chapter
480, Statutes of Nevada 1987.]
1. It is unlawful to drive a passenger car
manufactured after:
(a) January 1, 1968, on a highway unless it is
equipped with at least two lap-type safety belt assemblies for
use in the front seating positions.
(b) January 1, 1970, on a highway, unless it
is equipped with a lap-type safety belt assembly for each
permanent seating position for passengers. This requirement does
not apply to the rear seats of vehicles operated by a police
department or sheriff’s office.
(c) January 1, 1970, unless it is equipped
with at least two shoulder-harness-type safety belt assemblies
for use in the front seating positions.
2. Any person driving, and any passenger who:
(a) Is 6 years of age or older; or
(b) Weighs more than 60 pounds, regardless of
age, who rides in the front or back seat of any vehicle
described in subsection 1, having an unladen weight of less than
10,000 pounds, on any highway, road or street in this state
shall wear a safety belt if one is available for his seating
position.
3. A citation must be issued to any driver or to
any adult passenger who fails to wear a safety belt as required by
subsection 2. If the passenger is a child who:
(a) Is 6 years of age or older but less than
18 years of age, regardless of weight; or
(b) Is less than 6 years of age but who weighs
more than 60 pounds.
Each citation must be issued to the driver for
his failure to require that child to wear the safety belt, but
if both the driver and that child are not wearing safety belts,
only one citation may be issued to the driver for both
violations. A citation may be issued pursuant to this subsection
only if the violation is discovered when the vehicle is halted
or its driver arrested for another alleged violation or offense.
Any person who violates the provisions of subsection 2 shall be
punished by a fine of not more than $25 or by a sentence to
perform a certain number of hours of community service.
4. A violation of subsection 2:
(a) Is not a moving traffic violation under
NRS 483.473.
(b) May not be considered as negligence or as
causation in any civil action or as negligent or reckless
driving under NRS 484.377.
(c) May not be considered as misuse or abuse
of a product or as causation in any action brought to recover
damages for injury to a person or property resulting from the
manufacture, distribution, sale or use of a product.
5. The Department shall exempt those types of
motor vehicles or seating positions from the requirements of
subsection 1 when compliance would be impractical.
6. The provisions of subsections 2 and 3 do not
apply:
(a) To a driver or passenger who possesses a
written statement by a physician certifying that he is unable to
wear a safety belt for medical or physical reasons;
(b) If the vehicle is not required by federal
law to be equipped with safety belts;
(c) To an employee of the United States Postal
Service while delivering mail in the rural areas of this state;
(d) If the vehicle is stopping frequently, the
speed of that vehicle does not exceed 15 miles per hour between
stops and the driver or passenger is frequently leaving the
vehicle or delivering property from the vehicle; or
(e) Except as otherwise provided in NRS
484.6415, to a passenger riding in a means of public
transportation, including a school bus or emergency vehicle.
7. It is unlawful for any person to distribute,
have for sale, offer for sale or sell any safety belt or shoulder
harness assembly for use in a motor vehicle unless it meets current
minimum standards and specifications of the United States Department
of Transportation.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 1209; A 1985, 1953, 2294;
1987, 1106; 2001 Special Session, 151; 2003, 274, 506, 2080,
effective June 1, 2004, until the date the Federal Government
rescinds the requirement for the installation of automatic
restraints in new private passenger motor vehicles, if that action
is based upon the enactment or continued operation of certain
amendatory and transitory provisions contained in chapter 480,
Statutes of Nevada 1987)
For full text visit -
http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-484.html#NRS484Sec474
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