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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2064 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1699 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Paul R. Feeney |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act establishing a primary seat belt law. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Paul R. FeeneyBristol and NorfolkJames B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/4/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2064 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1699 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Mr. Feeney, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1699) of Paul R. Feeney and James |
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| 19 | 19 | | B. Eldridge for legislation to establish a primary seat belt law. Public Safety and Homeland |
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| 20 | 20 | | Security. |
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| 21 | 21 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEE SENATE, NO. 1521 OF 2023-2024.] |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | An Act establishing a primary seat belt law. |
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| 29 | 29 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 13A of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph and inserting in the |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3place thereof the following paragraph:- |
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| 34 | 34 | | 4 Any person who operates a motor vehicle without a safety belt, and any person 16 years |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5of age or over who rides as a passenger in a motor vehicle without wearing a safety belt in |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6violation of this section, shall be subject to a fine of 50 dollars. Any operator of a motor vehicle |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7shall be subject to an additional fine of 50 dollars for each person under the age of 16 and no |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8younger than 12 who is a passenger in said motor vehicle and not wearing a safety belt. The |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9provisions of this section shall be enforced by law enforcement agencies when an operator of a |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10motor vehicle or passenger who rides in the motor vehicle is not wearing a safety belt in 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11violation of motor vehicle laws. Safety belt violations will not result in surcharges on motor |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12vehicle insurance premiums, and a police officer may not search or inspect a motor vehicle, its |
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| 43 | 43 | | 13contents, the driver, or a passenger solely because of a violation of this section. Fees derived |
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| 44 | 44 | | 14from primary seat belt citations shall be deposited in the Head Injury Treatment Services Trust |
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| 45 | 45 | | 15Fund established in Section 59 of Chapter 10. |
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| 46 | 46 | | 16 SECTION 2. The provisions of Section 1 shall take effect 180 days from the effective |
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| 47 | 47 | | 17date of this act. |
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