Report Title:

Used Crib Safety Program

Description:

Establishes a used crib safety program for children under the age of three; establishes standards; provides penalties and remedies.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1878

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to crib safety.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the disability and even deaths of infants and young children that result from crib accident injuries are a threat to the health, welfare, and safety of Hawaii's children under the age of three years old. According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission information, approximately thirty-five children die annually in unsafe used cribs and more than twelve thousand children have crib injuries that require emergency medical care. Most of these injuries and fatal accidents occurred in used or secondhand cribs.

Although federal law and voluntary industry standards dictate the safety standards for the manufacture and sale of cribs introduced into interstate commerce after January 31, 1974, there is no federal or Hawaii law or regulation that governs the use or sale or commercial use of secondhand cribs. Older cribs can present many dangers to children, including strangulation and suffocation. Children can strangle when their bodies slip between crib slats that are too far apart and their heads catch in the slats. Children can suffocate when their faces and noses are wedged between a too-small mattress and the crib. There also can be problems when used cribs are not sturdy or have catchpoints that can entangle a child's clothing. In February 2000, the Consumer Product Safety Commission warned that, according to a recent study, most cribs found in hotels were unsafe for infants and urged all hotels to join a campaign for safer cribs. "Children under (age) 2 spend seven million nights a year in hotels," said Commission Chairman Ann Brown.

In the early 1970s, before federal crib standards were developed, one hundred fifty to two hundred babies each year died in crib-related incidents. Crib regulations helped bring the annual number of crib-related deaths down from as many as two hundred to approximately thirty-five. The deaths that have occurred since the federal standards went into effect have involved mostly older, used cribs. In a 2001 statement on her congressional bill to ban unsafe used cribs from the market, Senator Dianne Feinstein stated that there are approximately twenty-five to thirty million unsafe cribs in secondary markets, like thrift stores and resale furniture stores. The vulnerable population at risk for serious injury or death caused by unsafe used cribs must be protected.

The legislature further finds that the public must be informed about the dangers of used cribs to protect our infants and young children. Because even cribs manufactured as recently as 1991 can be unsafe, parents and commercial users of cribs must check slat space size and stability and look out for any sharp edges, protruding metal, and other dangers. The design and construction of used cribs must ensure an infant or child's safety.

Currently, at least twelve states prohibit the resale of unsafe cribs. For example, as of July 6, 2001, it is illegal in Oregon for commercial users that include childcare facilities to sell, lease, or otherwise place an unsafe crib in the stream of commerce. It is also illegal in Oregon for an individual to sell a crib at a garage sale, estate sale, or secondhand store that does not meet the safety standards established for cribs.

The purpose of this Act is to prevent injuries and deaths of Hawaii's infants and young children by establishing used crib safety requirements and penalties and remedies for violation of those requirements.

SECTION 2. The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"CHAPTER

CRIB SAFETY

§ -A Definitions. In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

"Commercial user" means any person or entity, or agent thereof, and includes child care facilities, family child care homes, hotels, motels, or similar transient lodging facilities who:

(1) Regularly deals in full-size or nonfull-size cribs that are used or not new;

(2) Regularly sells, leases, sublets, or otherwise places in the stream of commerce full-size or nonfull-size cribs that are used or not new for the purpose of resale;

(3) Purports, by virtue of the person's occupation, to have knowledge or skill with respect to full-size cribs or nonfull-size cribs; or

(4) Is in the business of remanufacturing, retrofitting, selling, leasing, subletting, or otherwise placing cribs in the stream of commerce; or

(5) Purchases one or more full-size or nonfull-size cribs for the purpose of resale.

"Crib" means:

(1) Any full-size cribs as set forth in 16 C.F.R. 1508.1 and 16 C.F.R. 1508.3; or

(2) Any nonfull-size crib as defined in 16 C.F.R. 1509.2.

"Individual" means a natural person who is not a commercial user of cribs.

"Infant" means an individual who is less than three years of age.

§ -B Prohibited conduct. (a) It shall be a violation for any commercial user to:

(1) Remanufacture, retrofit, sell, contract to sell or resell, lease, sublet, use, or otherwise place in the stream of commerce a crib that is not new and that is unsafe for an infant using the crib;

(2) Manufacture, sell, contract to sell or resell, lease, sublet, use, or otherwise place in the stream of commerce any crib that is unsafe for an infant using the crib; or

(3) Offer or provide for use or otherwise place in the stream of commerce, on or after the effective date of this Act, any full-size or nonfull-size crib that is unsafe for an infant using the crib.

(b) A crib is presumed to be unsafe pursuant to this chapter if it does not meet the following requirements or standards:

(1) 16 C.F.R. part 1508;

(2) 16 C.F.R. part 1509;

(3) 16 C.F.R. part 1303;

(4) American Society for Testing Materials Voluntary Standards F406, F966, F1169, and F1822; and

(5) Any laws, regulations, or standards that are enacted to amend the regulations in paragraphs (1) through (4).

(c) Cribs that are presumed unsafe pursuant to subsection (b) include cribs with any of the following:

(1) Corner posts that extend more than one-sixteenth of an inch;

(2) Spaces between side slats more than two and three-eighths inches;

(3) Mattress supports that can be easily dislodged from any point of the crib because they cannot withstand a twenty-five pound upward force from underneath the crib;

(4) Cutout designs on the end panels;

(5) Rail height dimensions that do not conform to the following:

(A) The height of the rail and end panel as measured from the top of the rail or panel in its lowest position to the top of the mattress support in its highest position is at least nine inches; or

(B) The height of the rail and end panel as measured from the top of the rail or panel in its highest position to the top of the mattress support in its lowest position is at least twenty-six inches;

(6) Sharp edges, points, rough surfaces or any wood surfaces that are not smooth and free from splinters, splits, or cracks; or

(7) Tears in mesh or fabric sides.

(d) An individual may not remanufacture, retrofit, sell, contract to sell or resell, lease, sublet, or otherwise place in the stream of commerce a crib that is unsafe for an infant using the crib.

§ -C Penalties. (a) A commercial user who wilfully and knowingly sells, leases, uses, or otherwise places in the stream of commerce an unsafe baby crib as defined in section    -B shall be punishably by a fine not to exceed $1,000.

(b) An individual who wilfully and knowingly sells, leases, or otherwise places in the stream of commerce an unsafe baby crib as defined in section    -B shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding $200.

§ -D Exemptions. (a) This chapter does not apply to an antique or vintage crib that is clearly not intended for use by an infant, if the antique or vintage crib is accompanied, at the time of remanufacturing, retrofitting, selling, leasing, subletting, or otherwise placing in the stream of commerce, by a notice furnished by the commercial user that states that the antique or vintage crib is not intended for use by an infant and that the antique or vintage crib is dangerous for use by an infant.

(b) A commercial user is exempt from liability resulting from use of an antique or vintage crib in a manner that is contrary to the notice that is required by this section.

(c) As used in this section:

"Antique or vintage crib" means a crib that is:

(1) Fifty years or older, measured from the current year;

(2) Maintained as a collector's item; and

(3) Not intended for use by an infant.

§ -E Private right of action; attorney fees. Any person may maintain an action against a commercial user who violates this chapter to enjoin the remanufacture, retrofitting, sale, contract to sale or resell, lease, or subletting that is unsafe for an infant and may recover for reasonable attorney fees and costs."

SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun, before its effective date.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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