Revision: Oct. 19, 2023, 2:56 p.m.
2024 SESSION
24-2796.0
11/08
HOUSE BILL [bill number]
AN ACT relative to child passenger protection.
SPONSORS: [sponsors]
COMMITTEE: [committee]
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ANALYSIS
This bill requires a motor vehicle restraint system for motor vehicle operators and passengers under 18 years of age.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2796.0
11/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to child passenger protection.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Child Passenger Restraints Required. RSA 265:107-a, I, I-a, I-b, and I-c are repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
265:107-a Child Passenger Restraints Required.
I. No person who is less than 18 years of age shall drive a motor vehicle on any way unless such person is wearing a seat or safety belt which is properly adjusted and fastened.
I-a. No person operating a motor vehicle equipped with safety belts or a Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children system (LATCH) who is transporting a child shall drive on any way while carrying as a passenger a person less than 18 years of age unless such person is wearing a seat or safety belt which is properly adjusted and fastened. Except as provided in paragraph II, no person shall drive a motor vehicle on any way while carrying as a passenger a person less than 18 years of age unless the motor vehicle was designed for and equipped with child passenger restraints in accordance with the safety standards approved by the United States Department of Transportation in 49 C.F.R. section 571.213. For children under the age of eight years and less than 57 inches, an operator shall secure the child in a child passenger restraint system or booster seat in a rear seat as follows:
(a) A child under the age of two years and weighing less than 30 pounds shall be secured in a rear facing child passenger restraint system, which is equipped with a five-point harness.
(b) A child under the age of four years and weighing less than 40 pounds shall be secured in a rear facing child passenger restraint system, which is equipped with a five-point harness, until the child outgrows the top height or top weight recommendations made by the manufacturer of the child passenger restraint system, at which point the child shall be secured in a rear seat, in a forward facing child passenger restraint system which is equipped with a five-point harness.
(c) A child under the age of eight years and less than 57 inches in height shall be secured in a forward facing child passenger restraint system which is equipped with a 5-point harness, until the child outgrows the top height or top weight recommendations made by the manufacturer of the child passenger restraint system, at which point the child shall be secured in a rear seat, in a booster seat, until reaching 57 inches tall.
(d) If there are no rear seats, the child shall be secured in a child passenger restraint system or booster seat in a front seat of a motor vehicle except that no child shall be secured in a rear facing child passenger restraint system in a front seat of any motor vehicle which is equipped with a passenger-side airbag that is not disabled or turned off.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2025.