Section 27315.3 Of Article 3. Safety Belts And Inflatable Restraint Systems From California Vehicle Code >> Division 12. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 3.
27315.3
. (a) As used in this section, "passenger motor vehicle"
means a passenger vehicle as defined in Section 465 and a motortruck
as defined in Section 410 of less than 6,001 pounds unladen weight,
but does not include a motorcycle as defined in Section 400.
(b) Every sheriff's department and city police department and the
Department of the California Highway Patrol shall maintain safety
belts in good working order for the use of occupants of a vehicle
that it operates on a highway for the purpose of patrol. The safety
belts shall conform to motor vehicle safety standards established by
the United States Department of Transportation. This subdivision does
not, however, require installation or maintenance of safety belts
where not required by the laws of the United States applicable to the
vehicle at the time of its initial sale.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 42001, a violation
of subdivision (b) is an infraction punishable by a fine, including
all penalty assessments and court costs imposed on the convicted
department, of not more than twenty dollars ($20) for a first
offense, and a fine, including all penalty assessments and court
costs imposed on the convicted department, of not more than fifty
dollars ($50) for each subsequent offense.
(d) (1) For a violation of subdivision (b), in addition to the
fines provided for pursuant to subdivision (c) and the penalty
assessments provided for pursuant to Section 1464 of the Penal Code,
an additional penalty assessment of two dollars ($2) shall be levied
for a first offense, and an additional penalty assessment of five
dollars ($5) shall be levied for any subsequent offense.
(2) All money collected pursuant to this subdivision shall be
utilized in accordance with Section 1464 of the Penal Code.
(e) In a civil action, a violation of subdivision (b) or
information of a violation of subdivision (c) shall not establish
negligence as a matter of law or negligence per se for comparative
fault purposes, but negligence may be proven as a fact without regard
to the violation.
(f) Subdivisions (b) and (c) shall become inoperative immediately
upon the date that the Secretary of the United States Department of
Transportation, or his or her delegate, determines to rescind the
portion of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 (49
C.F.R. 571.208) that requires the installation of automatic
restraints in new passenger motor vehicles, except that those
subdivisions shall not become inoperative if the secretary's decision
to rescind Standard No. 208 is not based, in any respect, on the
enactment or continued operation of those subdivisions or
subdivisions (d) to (h), inclusive, of Section 27315.