Fourth

Session, 45th General Assembly

Elizabeth II, 2007

BILL 23

AN ACT TO AMEND THE

HIGHWAY

TRAFFIC ACT

Received and Read the First Time ...................................................................................................

Second Reading .................................................................................................................................

Committee ............................................................................................................................................

Third Reading .....................................................................................................................................

Royal Assent ......................................................................................................................................

HONOURABLE

DIANNE WHALEN

Minister

of Government Services

Ordered

to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Clause 1 of the Bill would amend

section 178 of the Highway Traffic Act

to confine the operation of that

section to the use of seat belts.

Clause 2 of the Bill would add a new

section

178.1 to the Act to make mandatory the use of child seat restraint systems during

the transport of children aged 8 and under and of a certain height and weight,

subject to certain statutory exceptions.

Clause 3 of the Bill would amend the

Schedule to the Act to provide for penalties for failure to wear a seat belt or

use a child seat restraint system.

Clause 4 of the Bill would provide

for commencement on July 1, 2008 .

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE HIGHWAY

TRAFFIC ACT

Analysis

S.178 Amdt.

Seat belts

S.178.1 Added

Child seat restraint systems

Sch. Amdt.

Commencement

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

RSNL1990 cH-3

as amended

1. (1) Subsection 178(1) of the Highway Traffic Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Seat belts

(1) In

this

section and

section 178.1,

(a) "child seat restraint system" means

a car seat of a type described in subsection 178.1(1) required for a child of

an age, height or weight described in subsection 178.1(2) that is designed for

use, together with a seat belt assembly, in the restraint of a child; and

(b) "seat belt assembly" means a device

or assembly composed of straps, webbing or similar material that restrains the

movement of a person in order to prevent or mitigate injury to the person and

includes a pelvic restraint or a pelvic restraint in combination with a torso

restraint.

(2) The Act is amended by adding immediately after

subsection (4) the following:

(4.1) For the purposes of subsections (3), (4) and

(6), a seat belt assembly is considered to be worn in a properly adjusted and

securely fastened manner where

(

a) the pelvic restraint is worn firmly against

the body and across the hips;

(

b) the torso restraint, if any, is worn closely

against the body and over the shoulder and across the chest; and

(

c) the pelvic restraint, and the torso restraint,

if any, are securely fastened.

(3) Subsection 178(6) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(6) A person shall not operate a vehicle on a

highway in which there is a passenger who is under 16 years of age unless that

passenger

(

a) occupies a seating position for which a seat

belt assembly has been provided and is wearing the complete seat belt assembly in

a properly adjusted and securely fastened manner; or

(

b) is secured in a child seat restraint system in

accordance with subsection 178.1(2), where the passenger is a child to whom

that subsection applies.

(4) Subsection 178(7) of the Act is amended by

striking out the citation "Subsection (6)" and substituting the

citation "Paragraph (6)(a)".

(5) Paragraph 178(7)(

c) of the Act is repealed.

(6) Subsections 178(8) and (9) of the Act are

repealed.

2. The Act is amended by adding immediately after

section 178 the following:

Child seat restraint

systems

178.1

(1) In

this

section

(a) "booster seat" means a child seat restraint

system that meets the requirements of

Schedule 5, CMVSS 213.2 "Booster

Cushions", to the Motor Vehicle

Restraint Systems and Booster Cushions Safety Regulations under the Motor

Vehicle Safety Act (Canada);

(b) "child car seat" means a child seat

restraint system that meets the requirements of

Schedule 3, CMVSS 213

"Child Restraint Systems", to the Motor

Vehicle Restraint Systems and Booster Cushions Safety Regulations under the

Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Canada);

and

(c) "infant car seat" means a child seat

restraint system that meets the requirements of

Schedule 4, CMVSS 213.1

"Infant Restraint Systems", to the Motor Vehicle Restraint Systems and Booster Cushions Safety Regulations

under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act

(Canada).

(2) Except as otherwise provided in subsections

(4) and (5), a person shall not operate on a highway a vehicle in which there is a

passenger who is a child 8 years of age or under unless that child is occupying

and properly secured in a child seat restraint system in accordance with the following:

(

a) a child who weighs less than 9 kilograms shall

be secured in a rearward-facing infant car seat that is used in the manner

recommended by the manufacturer;

(

b) a child who weighs 9 kilograms or more and

less than 18 kilograms shall be secured

(

i) in a child car seat that is used in the manner

recommended by the manufacturer; or

(ii) in an infant car seat that is used in the

manner recommended by the manufacturer, where the manufacturer's specifications

permit or recommend the use of an infant car seat by a child described in this

paragraph; and

(

c) a child who weighs not less than 18 kilograms

and not more than 37 kilograms and who is less than 145 centimetres in height

shall be secured

(

i) on a booster seat that is used in the manner

recommended by the manufacturer, and by the vehicle's complete seat belt

assembly, worn as described in subsection 178(4.1), or

(ii) in a child car seat that is used in the manner

recommended by the manufacturer, where the manufacturer's specifications permit

or recommend the use of a child car seat by a child described in this paragraph.

(3) A rearward facing infant car seat shall not be

used in a motor vehicle seat that is equipped with an active frontal air bag.

(4) Subsection (2) does not apply to the operator

on a highway of a vehicle where

(

a) the passenger is the holder of a certificate signed

by a qualified medical practitioner licensed under the Medical Act, 2005 or a nurse practitioner under the Registered Nurses Act certifying that

the passenger is

(

i) for the period stated in the certificate,

unable for medical reasons to be secured in a child seat restraint system, or

(ii) because of size, build or other physical

characteristic, unable to be secured in a child seat restraint system; or

(

b) the operator of the vehicle is a peace officer

who, in the lawful performance of his or her duties, is transporting a child in

his or her custody and in the opinion of the peace officer the urgency of the

situation makes it impracticable for the child to wear a child seat restraint

system.

(5) The requirements of paragraph (2)(

c) do not

apply to the transport of a child described in that paragraph in a bus or

school bus that has not been equipped with a seat belt assembly.

(6) Notwithstanding subsection (5), the operator

of a passenger vehicle designed to carry 6 or fewer passengers in addition to

the operator, under a contract with a school board to carry children to and

from school and school related activities, shall comply with the requirements

of subsection (2).

3. The

Schedule to the Act is amended by

(

a) striking out the reference "178(6)"

and substituting the reference "178(6)(a)"; and

(

b) striking out the reference "178(8)"

and substituting the reference "178.1(2)".

Commencement

4. This Act shall come into force July 1, 2008.

Earl G. Tucker, Queen's Printer