(On Behalf of Department of Motor Vehicles & Public Safety)
February 18, 1997
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Referred to Committee on Transportation
SUMMARY--Deletes provision limiting issuance of citation for failure to wear safety belt in motor vehicle to vehicles halted for other offenses. (BDR 43-463)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: Yes.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: Yes.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to traffic laws; deleting the provision which limits the issuance of a citation for a person's failure to wear a safety belt in a motor vehicle to vehicles halted for other offenses; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
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Section 1 NRS 484.641 is hereby amended to read as follows:
484.641 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 5 years of age or older who rides in the front or back seat of any vehicle described in subsection 1, having an unladen weight of less than 6,000 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 5 years of age or older but under 18 years, a 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 work for the community.
4. A violation of subsection 2:
(a) Is not a moving traffic violation [under] for the purposes of NRS 483.473.
(b) May not be considered as negligence or as causation in [any] a civil action or as negligent or reckless driving [under] pursuant to NRS 484.377.
(c) May not be considered as misuse or abuse of a product or as causation in [any] an 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) To a passenger riding in a means of public transportation, including a taxi, 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.
Sec. 2. The amendatory provisions of this act do not apply to offenses that are committed before October 1, 1997.
Sec. 3. The provisions of subsection 1 of NRS 354.599 do not apply to any additional expenses of a local government that are related to the provisions of this act.