HB 275: Child Safety Alarm Act

• Prohibits parents, legal guardians, or caregivers from leaving children 6 years old or younger unattended in motor vehicles when conditions present significant risk to health/safety, the engine is running, or keys are in the ignition, with violations subject to a $100 fine.

• Requires school superintendents, charter school governing boards, and private school operators to develop transportation safety plans addressing student boarding/exiting procedures, preventing unattended students on buses, and designating adult chaperones for grades PreK-8.

• Mandates child care facilities and large family child care homes equip all vehicles used to transport children with operational child safety alarm systems by January 1, 2022, unless a qualified adult chaperone is present and specific accountability procedures are followed.

• Requires child care facilities to develop transportation safety standards including child restraints, annual vehicle inspections, passenger limitations, and procedures to prevent children from being inadvertently left in vehicles.

• Directs the Department of Public Safety to include information about dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles in the Mississippi Driver's Manual, driver's license examinations, driver education materials, traffic violator school courses, and community education campaigns.