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NC Legislation of Interest
updated
06-02-08
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NC Child Fatality Task Force Legislative Agenda
The NC Child Fatality Task Force's (CFTF) legislative agenda for the 2008 short session of the NC General Assembly includes several bills related to the safety of child passengers and young drivers. A summary of the CFTF's legislative agenda is as follows:
- Amend § 14-318.2 and § 14-318.4 to increase the protection of children by strengthening misdemeanor charges for child abuse and adding felony charges for willful acts or omissions on the part of a parent or caregiver that result in serious injury or serious bodily injury to a child.
- Amend § 90-21.20 to require hospitals and physicians to report serious, non-accidental trauma injuries in children to law enforcement.
- Provide a recurring appropriation of $100,000 for continued efforts to provide minority and low-income women at risk for delivering a premature infant with a preventative treatment to reduce the risk of a recurring preterm birth.
- Provide a recurring appropriation of $250,000 for a Safe Sleep Campaign to reduce infant deaths due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and accidental suffocation/strangulation.
- Provide a recurring appropriation of $75,000 to promote women’s health during the childbearing years, which will help lower the death rate for North Carolina infants.
- Amend § 9 6 (Jury service a public duty; excuses to be allowed in exceptional cases; procedure) to create a voluntary exemption from jury duty for breastfeeding women.
- Create “Good Samaritan” liability protection for certified child passenger safety technicians if the technician is acting in good faith within the scope of training for which he/she is currently certified.
- Require installation of carbon monoxide detectors in rental properties, new homes, and upon sale of a home to a new owner.
- Amend § 20 135.2B to increase protections of children riding in the back of pick-up trucks by raising the minimum age to 16, removing the exemptions that make allowances for counties with small populations or if an adult is riding in the back with the child, and bringing charges in line with other child passenger safety violations.
- Issue vertical driver’s licenses to youth under age 21, that clearly indicate when the youth turns both 18 and 21 years of age, to increase the prevention of underage drinking by helping clerks easily identify youth who are attempting to purchase alcohol illegally.
The NCCFTF has produced briefing sheets and legislative updates related to their legislative agenda. The briefing sheets document presents the rationale and background information for each of the bills. The legislative update document provides information on the status of each of the bills and useful instructions for finding information about a specific bill and how to track each bill on-line through the NC General Assembly website. these documents can be found through the following links:
Following are additional details of bills that should be of particular concern for North Carolina's child passenger safety Technicians and advocates.
Create CPS Technician “Good Samaritan” Liability Protection
House Bill (HB) 2341 "Child Passenger Safety Technician Liability"
(primary sponsors: Weiss, Martin, Earle and Pierce; co-sponsors: Alexander, Folwell, Glazier, Harrison, Insko, Lucas, Neumann, Ross, Wainwright, Warren) and
Senate Bill (SB) 1736 "Child Passenger Safety Technician Liability"
(primary sponsor: Purcell; co-sponsors: Allran, Atwater, Dannelly, Dorsett, Jones, Malone, Weinstein) are "companion" bills that, if passed, will limit liability for the acts of child passenger safety technicians when acting in good faith and within the scope of their training.
Refer to the NC General Assembly website for the complete text of the bills and their legislative histories:
Amend NC Children in the Back of Pickup Trucks Law
HB 2340 "Transporting Children in Open Bed of Vehicle" (primary sponsors: Weiss, Pierce, Earle and Glazier; co-sponsors: Fisher, Parmon, Wainwright) and SB 1734 "Transporting Children in Open Bed of Vehicle" (primary sponsor: Purcell; co-sponsors: Atwater, Dannelly, Dorsett, Jones, Malone, Snow) are companion bills that, if passed, will increase the protection of children who ride in the back of pickup trucks or open beds of vehicles by:
- Raising the minimum age of children covered,
- Removing the exemptions that make allowances for small counties and adults riding with children, and
- Increasing the penalties to be in line with the NC CPS law
Refer to the NC General Assembly website for the complete text of the bills and their legislative histories:
Issue Vertical Driver’s Licenses to Youth Under Age 21
SB 1891 "Change Format of Drivers Licenses/Under 21" (primary sponsor: Bingham; co-sponsors: Allran, Dorsett, Garrou, Jenkins, Jones, Malone, McKissick, Purcell, Swindell) and HB 2487 "Change Format of Drivers Licenses/Under 21" (primary sponsors: Folwell, Pierce, McElraft, Faison) are companion bills that, if passed, will require that NC DMV change the format of a drivers license or special identification card being issued to a person less than twenty-one years of age from a horizontal format to a vertical format to make recognition of underage persons more easy for clerks dealing in restricted age sales of products such as alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.
Refer to the NC General Assembly website for the complete text of the bills and their legislative histories:
For Further information
For more information on these legislative efforts, contact the NC Child Fatality Task Force:
Selena Childs, Executive Director (Selena.Childs@ncmail.net, 919-707-5626)
Tom Vitaglione, Chair (tom@ncchild.org, 919-834-6623x235)
Persons interested in contacting their local General Assembly members regarding this or any other bill being considered can find current lists of representatives and their contact information through the House Representation By County and Senate Representation By County pages on the NC General Assembly web site.
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