Transportation

101225

(a) Only drivers licensed for the type of vehicle operated shall be permitted to transport children.

(b) The manufacturer's rated seating capacity of the vehicles shall not be exceeded.

(c) Motor vehicles used to transport children shall be maintained in a safe operating condition.

(d) All vehicle occupants shall be secured in an appropriate restraint system.

(e) Children shall not be left in parked vehicles.

(f) The licensee shall post signs at the entrance to the child care center that provide the telephone number of the local health department and information on child passenger restraint systems pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 1596.95(g) and Vehicle Code sections 27360 and 27360.5.

(1) The signs shall provide all of the following information:

(A) Protect your child--it is the law.

(B) All the information specified in Sections 27360 and 27360.5 of the Vehicle Code regarding child passenger restraint systems.

(C) Call your local health department for more information.

Health and Safety Code section 1596.95(g) provides:

Evidence satisfactory to the department that the applicant has posted signs at the point of entry to the facility that provide the telephone number of the local health department and state all of the following:

(1) Protect your child--it is the law.

(2) All the information specified in Sections 27360 and 27360.5 of the Vehicle Code regarding child passenger restraint systems.

(3) Call your local health department for more information.

Vehicle Code section 27315(c)(1) provides:

As used in this section, "motor vehicle" means a passenger vehicle, a motortruck, or a truck tractor, but does not include a motorcycle.

Vehicle Code section 27315(d)(2) provides:

For purposes of this section the phrase, "properly restrained by a safety belt" means that the lower (lap) portion of the belt crosses the hips or upper thighs of the occupant and the upper (shoulder) portion of the belt, if present, crosses the chest in front of the occupant.

Vehicle Code section 27360 provides:

(a) Except as provided in Section 27363, a parent, legal guardian, or driver shall not transport on a highway in a motor vehicle, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 27315, a child or ward who is under eight years of age, without properly securing that child in a rear seat in an appropriate child passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards.

(b) Except as provided in Section 27363, a parent, legal guardian, or driver who transports a child under two years of age on a highway in a motor vehicle, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 27315, shall properly secure the child in a rear-facing child passenger restraint system that meets applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards, unless the child weighs 40 or more pounds or is 40 or more inches tall. The child shall be secured in a manner that complies with the height and weight limits specified by the manufacturer of the child passenger restraint system.

(c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a driver if the parent or legal guardian of the child is also present in the motor vehicle and is not the driver.

Vehicle Code section 27360.5 provides:

(a) A parent, legal guardian, or driver shall not transport on a highway in a motor vehicle, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 27315, a child or ward who is eight years of age or older, but less than 16 years of age, without properly securing that child or ward in an appropriate child passenger restraint system or safety belt meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards.

(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a driver if the parent or legal guardian of the child is also present in the motor vehicle and is not the driver.

Vehicle Code section 27363 provides:

(a) The court may exempt from the requirements of this article any class of child by age, weight, or size if it is determined that the use of a child passenger restraint system would be impractical by reason of physical unfitness, medical condition, or size. The court may require satisfactory proof of the child's physical unfitness, medical condition, or size and that an appropriate special needs child passenger restraint system is not available.

(b) In case of a life-threatening emergency, or when a child is being transported in an authorized emergency vehicle, if there is no child passenger restraint system available, a child may be transported without the use of that system, but the child shall be secured by a seatbelt.

(c) A child weighing more than 40 pounds may be transported in the backseat of a vehicle while wearing only a lap safety belt when the backseat of the vehicle is not equipped with a combination lap and shoulder safety belt.

(d) Notwithstanding Section 27360, a child or ward under eight years of age who is four feet nine inches in height or taller may be properly restrained by a safety belt, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 27315, rather than by a child passenger restraint system.

(e) Notwithstanding Section 27360, a child or ward under eight years of age may ride properly secured in an appropriate child passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards in the front seat of a motor vehicle under any of the following circumstances:

(1) There is no rear seat.

(2) The rear seats are side-facing jump seats.

(3) The rear seats are rear-facing seats.

(4) The child passenger restraint system cannot be installed properly in the rear seat.

(5) All rear seats are already occupied by children seven years of age or under.

(6) Medical reasons necessitate that the child or ward not ride in the rear seat. The court may require satisfactory proof of the child’s medical condition.

(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (e), a child shall not be transported in a rearfacing child passenger restraint system in the front seat of a motor vehicle that is equipped with an active frontal passenger airbag.

NOTE: Authority cited: Section 1596.81, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 1596.72, 1596.73, 1596.81 and 1596.95, Health and Safety Code.