83R201 NAJ-D
By: Smithee H.B. No. 2790
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the offense of failing to secure a child in a child
passenger safety seat system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 545.412(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
punishable by a fine of not more than [$25 for the first offense and
not more than] $250 [for a second or subsequent offense].
SECTION 2. Section 545.4121(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) It is a defense to prosecution of a first [an] offense to
which this section applies that the defendant provides to the court
evidence satisfactory to the court that the defendant possesses an
appropriate child passenger safety seat system for each child
required to be secured in a child passenger safety seat system under
Section 545.412(a). The defense does not apply if, at the time of
the offense, the motor vehicle is involved in an accident.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.