The New Year brought a few new laws to the state of Florida that affects household smoke detectors and car seats.
The majority of smoke alarms installed in Florida homes are battery powered. As of January 1, 2015, battery operated smoke alarms can no longer be installed. Florida Building Code is implementing the new law and it requires homeowners without hardwired smoke detectors to install 10-year sealed battery smoke alarms in their homes. These long lived, battery smoke detectors contain lithium batteries, which cannot be tampered with or changed out to operate with other electronics in your home.
The reason Florida Building Code has cracked down on smoke detector safety is due to the 114 people that were killed in fires last year. Over half of the homes involved with these deaths had smoke alarms that were not working or had dead batteries.
The reason Florida Building Code has cracked down on smoke detector safety is due to the 114 people that were killed in fires last year. Over half of the homes involved with these deaths had smoke alarms that were not working or had dead batteries.
The nice thing about the new law is it only requires homeowners to change out their current smoke detector with the new and improved one, only when the old ones have to be replaced because they are outdated or not working. The new alarms can be found at any local hardware store for around $25 to $50.
The other law that is in effect as of the start of the New Year affects car seats. Before 2015, any person under the age of 4 was required to be in a car seat or booster seat. Now, the law states that any person under the age of 6 must be in a car seat or booster seat. Drivers caught disobeying this law will be fined $60 and will receive up to three points on their license.
Don’t forget to make a note of these law changes to avoid fines and penalties.
By: Brittany Boyer
