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MA LAWS Child passenger restraints/Seat
Belts/Car Seats
Chapter 90: Section 7AA. Child passenger restraints; fine;
violation as evidence in civil action
[ First and second paragraphs effective until July 10, 2008.
For text effective July 10, 2008, see below.]
Section 7AA. No child under age five and no child weighing
forty pounds or less shall ride as a passenger in a motor
vehicle on any way unless such child is properly fastened
and secured, according to the manufacturer's instructions,
by a child passenger restraint as defined in section one.
No child who is five years of age or older, but not older
than twelve years of age, shall ride as a passenger in a
motor vehicle on any way unless such child is wearing a
safety belt which is properly adjusted and fastened
according to the manufacturer's instructions.
[ First and second paragraphs as amended by 2008, 79, Sec. 2
effective July 10, 2008. For text effective until July 10,
2008, see above.]
A passenger in a motor vehicle on any way who is under the
age of 8 shall be fastened and secured by a child passenger
restraint, unless such passenger measures more than 57
inches in height. The child passenger restraint shall be
properly fastened and secured according to the
manufacturer's instructions.
Unless required to be properly fastened and secured by a
child passenger restraint under the preceding paragraph, a
passenger in a motor vehicle on any way that is under the
age of 13 shall wear a safety belt which is properly
adjusted and fastened according to the manufacturer's
instructions.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to any such
child who is: (1) riding as a passenger in a school bus; (2)
riding as a passenger in a motor vehicle made before July
first, nineteen hundred and sixty-six, that is not equipped
with safety belts; (3) physically unable to use either a
conventional child passenger restraint or a child restraint
specifically designed for children with special needs;
provided, however, that such condition is duly certified in
writing by a physician who shall state the nature of the
disability as well as the reasons such restraints are
inappropriate; provided, further, that no such certifying
physician shall be subject to liability in a civil action
for the issuance of or for the failure to issue such
certificate. An operator of a motor vehicle who violates the
provisions of this section shall be subject to a fine of not
more than twenty-five dollars; provided, however, that said
twenty-five dollar fine shall not apply to an operator of a
motor vehicle licensed as a taxi cab not equipped with a
child passenger restraint device.
A violation of this section shall not be used as evidence
of contributory negligence in any civil action.
A person who receives a citation for a violation of any of
the provisions of this section may contest such citation
pursuant to section three of chapter ninety C. A violation
of this section shall not be deemed to be a conviction of a
moving violation of the motor vehicle laws for the purpose
of determining surcharges on motor vehicle premiums pursuant
to section one hundred and thirteen B of chapter one hundred
and seventy-five. |
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