HBA-DMH C.S.H.B. 1739 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1739 By: Martinez Fischer Transportation 3/18/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE According the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, car accidents are a leading cause of death among children in the United States. 1997 traffic statistics for Houston reveal that 61 percent of child passengers in motor vehicles were not properly restrained by seat belts or child safety seats. Increasing the fine for violations relating to improperly restrained child passengers may decrease the number of child fatalities involving motor vehicles. C.S.H.B. 1739 increases the penalty for offenses relating to the improper use of child safety belts and child passenger safety seats, and requires a judge who elects to defer a traffic offense proceeding to require a defendant to complete an approved child passenger safety seat educational program. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 1739 amends the Transportation Code to increase from not less than $25 or more than $50 to not less than $100 or more than $200 the fine for a misdemeanor relating to child safety belt or child passenger safety seat system violations involving a child younger than 15 years of age. The bill requires a judge who elects to defer traffic offense proceedings and to place a defendant on probation to require the defendant to successfully complete an educational program developed an implemented by the Texas Department of Public Safety to encourage the use of child passenger safety seat systems, in lieu of requiring the defendant to complete a driving safety course approved by Texas Education Agency. The bill specifies that the child passenger safety seat program should emphasize: _the effectiveness of child passenger safety seat systems in reducing the harm to children being transported in motor vehicles; and _the requirements of these provisions and the penalty for noncompliance. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 1739 differs from the original bill by adding a provision requiring a judge who elects to defer traffic offense proceedings and place a defendant on probation to require the defendant to successfully complete a specified child passenger safety seat educational program.