No. SB 1384
Filed under Transportation.
Child Restraint Requirements; Prohibiting a person operating a motorcycle or moped from carrying a child under a certain age, or allowing a child under a certain age to ride on the motorcycle or moped, unless certain requirements are met, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDA motorcycle or moped operator can no longer carry a child under 8, or let one ride along, unless the child sits in an attached sidecar and is properly restrained. An exception applies during parades.
Separately, the bill rewrites Florida's car-seat rules. The device mandate now runs through age 8 instead of 5, and it splits into three age bands with different, more specific equipment requirements than before.
Children age 2 and younger must now use a rear-facing seat with a 5-point harness. Children ages 3 and 4 must use a rear- or forward-facing seat with a harness -- a plain booster seat no longer qualifies for them.
Children ages 5 through 8 must use a booster seat that relies on the vehicle's seat belt, or a forward-facing harnessed seat -- unless the child is taller than 4 feet 9 inches, in which case this tier does not apply.
AIAn operator may no longer carry a child under 8 as a passenger on a motorcycle or moped, or let one ride along, unless the child rides in an attached sidecar and is properly restrained; the restriction applies to any operator, not just non-family drivers.
AIThe requirement to use an approved child restraint device, which used to stop at age 5, now covers children through age 8, adding three more years of mandatory coverage under this section.
AIChildren through age 2 -- one year younger than the old cutoff of 3 -- must now use a restraint device that is specifically rear-facing and equipped with a 5-point harness, replacing the old, more general carrier-or-integrated-seat language.
AIChildren aged 3 through 4 can no longer use a plain booster seat; the device must be rear-facing or forward-facing and must include a 5-point harness, a stricter standard than the three-way choice the old law allowed.
AIChildren aged 5 through 8 must use a child booster seat that incorporates the vehicle's own safety belt, or a forward-facing seat with a 5-point harness; the requirement does not apply to a child taller than 4 feet 9 inches.
AIThe only way to lawfully carry a child under 8 on a motorcycle or moped is to seat the child in a sidecar attached to the vehicle and restrain the child as other passenger-safety law requires.
AIA person operating a motorcycle while participating in a parade is not subject to the new restriction on carrying a young child, even though the same activity is banned outside a parade setting.
AIThe existing exceptions letting a safety belt substitute for a child restraint device -- gratuitous transport by a non-family driver, a medical emergency, or a documented medical condition -- now explicitly cover both the 3-4 tier and the new 5-8 tier.