CHAPTER 90
FORMERLY
HOUSE BILL NO. 43
AS AMENDED BY
SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE OCCUPANT PROTECTION SYSTEM SAFETY ACT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE :
Section 1. Amend § 4802(a), Title 21, Delaware Code by deleting the words “any passenger in the front seat” and inserting in lieu thereof the words “each occupant of the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle who is 16 years of age or older.”
Section 2. Amend § 4802(d), Title 21, Delaware Code by deleting that subsection in its entirety.
Section 3. Amend § 4802, Title 21, Delaware Code by deleting the words "front seat passenger," as they appear in the Title.
Section 4. Pursuant to the authority provided by Title 21, Sections 302 and 2733, the Secretary of Pubic Safety will promulgate rules and regulations to post credit on the driving record of those individuals convicted of specified moving traffic violations in which all passengers of the vehicle are wearing seat belts at the time of the arrest. The seat belt credit will be considered when determining license suspensions based upon the Division of Motor Vehicles' point system. The office will annotate the traffic citation when all of the occupants in the vehicle are wearing a seat belt and the Courts will inform the Division of Motor Vehicles upon conviction.
Section 5. The General Assembly encourages insurance companies doing business in Delaware to consider the passage of this Bill which requires all passengers in motor vehicles to wear seat belts in determining the premium pricing structure for motor vehicle liability insurance.
Section 6. This Act shall become law upon enactment; however, for the first 60 days after enactment, violators shall be warned for educational purposes and not cited under this Act.
Section 5. Amend the newly designated §4802(f)(2), Title 21, Delaware Code by adding a new subparagraph c. to read as follows:
"c. Where there is no other violation of this Title in addition to a violation of this section, a civil penalty of $25.00 shall be imposed. The failure to wear a seat belt by more than one person in the same vehicle at the same time, as required by this section, shall be treated as a single civil violation. Justice of the Peace Court shall have jurisdiction over actions involving this civil penalty.”
Section 6. Amend §4802, Title 21, Delaware Code, by adding a new subsection (i) to read as follows:
"(i) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any police officer is authorized to make an administrative stop for purposes of enforcing this section, upon reasonable and articulable suspicion that a violation of this section has occurred.”.