The Florida Police Chiefs Association and the National Safety Belt Coalition
along with Stay Alive From Education (S.A.F.E.) are pleased to provide you with the following
safe driving information which will have a lifesaving impact on you and your children.
WHY WEAR A SAFETY BELT?
- To understand the value of
safety belts and child safety seat use, it's important to understand some of the dynamics of a traffic crash. Every motor
vehicle crash is actually comprised of three collisions.
- The first collision is known as the car's collision, which causes the car
to buckle and bend as it hits something and comes to an abrupt stop. This occurs in approximately one-tenth of a second.
The crushing of the front end absorbs some of the force of the crash and cushions the rest of the car. As a result, the
passenger compartment comes to a more gradual stop than the front of the car.
- The second collision occurs as the car's occupants hit some part of the
vehicle. At the moment of impact, unbelted occupants are still traveling at the vehicle's original speed. Just after
the vehicle comes to a complete stop, these unbelted occupants will slam into the steering wheel, the windshield, or
some other part of the vehicle's interion. This is the human collision.
- Another form of human collision is the person-to-person impact. Many serious
injuries are caused by unbelted occupants colliding with eachother. In a crash, occupants tend to move toward the point of
impact, not away from it. People in the front seat are often struck by unbelted rear-seat passengers who have become
high-speed projectiles.
- Even after the occupant's body comes to a complete stop, the internal organs
are still moving forward. Suddenly, these organs hit other organs or the skeletal system. This third collision is the
internal collision and often causes serious or fatal injuries.
SO, WHY SAFETY BELTS?
During a crash, properly fastened safety belts distribute the forces of
rapid deceleration over larger and stronger parts of the person's body, such as the chest, hips and shoulders. The safety
belt stretches slightly to slow your body down and to increase its stopping distance.
The difference between the belted person's stopping distance and the unbelted person's stopping distance is significant.
It's often the difference between life and death.
FLORIDA LAW
316.614 Safety Belt Usage
(1) This section may be cited as the "Florida Safety Belt Law."
(2) It is the policy of this state that enactment of this section is intended to be compatible with the continued
support by the state for federal safety standards requiring automatic crash protection, and the enactment of this
section should not be used in any manner to rescind or delay the implementation of the federal automatic crash
protection system requirements of Federal Motor Safety Standard 208 as set forth in S4.1.2.1 thereof, as entered on
July 17, 1984, for new cars.
(3) As used in this section:
(a) "Motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle as defined in
s. 316.003 that is operated on the roadways, streets, and highways of this state. The term does not include:
1. A school bus.
2. A bus used for the transportation of persons for compensation.
3. A farm tractor or implement of husbandry.
4. A truck of a net weight of more than 5,000 pounds.
5. A motorcycle, moped, or bicycle.
(b) "Safety belt" means a seat belt assembly that meets the requirements established under Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard No. 208, 49 C.F.R. s. 571.208.
(c) "Restrained by a safety belt" means being restricted by an appropriately adjusted safety belt which is properly
fastened at all times when a motor vehicle is in motion.
(4) It is unlawful for any person:
(a) To operate a motor vehicle in this state unless each passenger of the vehicle under the age of 18 years is
restrained by a safety belt or by a child restraint device pursuant to s. 316.613, if applicable; or
(b) To operate a motor vehicle in this state unless the person is restrained by a safety belt.
(5) It is unlawful for any person 18 years of age or older to be a passenger in the front seat of a motor vehicle
unless such person is restrained by a safety belt when the vehicle is in motion.
(6)(a) Neither a person who is certified by a physician as having a medical condition that causes the use of a safety
belt to be inappropriate or dangerous nor an employee of a newspaper home delivery service while in the course of his
or her employment delivering newspapers on home delivery routes is required to be restrained by a safety belt.
(b) The number of front seat passengers of a pickup truck required to wear a safety belt pursuant to this section shall
not exceed the number of safety belts which were installed in the front seat of such pickup truck by the
manufacturer.
(c) An employee of a solid waste or recyclable collection service is not required to be restrained b
y a safety belt while in the course of employment collecting solid waste or recyclables on designated routes.
(d) The requirements of this section shall not apply to the living quarters of a recreational vehicle or a space
within a truck body primarily intended for merchandise or property.
(7) It is the intent of the Legislature that all state, county, and local law enforcement agencies, safety councils,
and public school systems, in recognition of the fatalities and injuries attributed to unrestrained occupancy of motor
vehicles, shall conduct a continuing safety and public awareness campaign as to the magnitude of the problem and adopt
programs designed to encourage compliance with the safety belt usage requirements of this section..
(8) Any person who violates the provisions of this section commits a nonmoving violation, punishable as provided in
chapter 318. However, except for violations of s. 316.613, enforcement of this section by state or local law enforcement
agencies must be accomplished only as a secondary action when a driver of a motor vehicle has been detained for a suspected
violation of another section of this chapter, chapter 320, or chapter 322..
(9) A violation of the provisions of this section shall not constitute negligence per se, nor shall such violation be
used as prima facie evidence of negligence or be considered in mitigation of damages, but such violation may be considered
as evidence of comparative negligence, in any civil action..
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