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I transported my day care kids in my rv. Infant & toddler had car seats. The school age kids age 6 used lap belts. CCL cited me for not putting the 6 yr old in a care seat, even though the California Highway Patrol's regulations is that an rv is treated as a bus because car seats are tested facing forward & in an rv you are sitting facing across each other. Since I am not breaking a CHP law & the CCL is going by the law, why are they giving me a citation? Does CCL have the right of investigate pass the "home" where the license is issued (Family Day Care Home License)? I have started my appeal on this. BTW I was using the rv to pick up the older kids from school & having the bathroom helps me from having to take everyone in & out of my van & walk a distance for a child who may need the rest room.
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I think you are in the right and your citation should be reversed. As a side note, the rv with a bathroom for transport is a genius idea!! -
I'm not sure about CA, but here licensing has their own rules. I'd check your state daycare regulations and see what it says there. You may not have broken a rule with Highway Patrol, but licensing may say otherwise.Comment
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Here in MA the DMV had more strict regulations for child care transportation that CCL for the longest time.
I'd definitely check into the regulations in your area, but be careful if it's questionable with picking your battles. Because we all know how licensing is based on the interpretation of the licensor. You'll need to determine if it's worth it to just accept this citation, or combat them and end up having that "eye of Mordor" on you.
I was recently cited for my renewal license with a few non existent regulations. I called the licensor and directed her to the section of regulations in question, I asked the licensor to show me where these particular regulations were, after putting me on hold for some time to look, she came back onto the phone and clearly had a different attitude toward me. She said she couldn't find them at that time, but insisted they were somewhere in the regulations, insisted that she was fair to all providers, did not make up regulations, and if I was not satisfied with her answer, I would have to dispute it with the main office, then waited for my answer.
It was a quick fix, so after seeing where this was taking me, decided to back down and give her the control that licensors seem to need.Comment
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I absolutely believe you are in the right. Here is what title 22 has to say about transporting children:
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(h) Only drivers licensed for the type of vehicle to be operated shall be permitted to transport children in care.
(i) The manufacturer's rated seating capacity of the vehicle shall not be exceeded.
(j) Motor vehicles used to transport children in care shall be maintained in safe operating condition.
(k) All vehicle occupants must be secured in an appropriate restraint system.
(1) Children shall not be left in parked vehicles.
(l) When transporting infants in any motor vehicle, the licensee shall secure the infants in a car seat, designed for infants, which is secured in the vehicle in accordance with manufacturer's instructions.
Other than this you have to follow CA driving laws.
Here is what the FAQ's section on the CHP website says:
ARE THERE EXCEPTIONS?
Yes, there are a few. Your child may ride in the front seat if:
-Your vehicle has no rear seats.
-Rear seats are side-facing jump seats.
-Child safety restraints must never be placed on side-facing vehicle seats.
-The child restraint system cannot be properly installed in the rear seat.
For example, your vehicle has lap belts only in the back seat, but there are lap and shoulder belts in the front seat. Your child is 5 and weighs 45 pounds and must ride in a booster seat. The booster seat must be used with a lap and shoulder belt; therefore your child may ride in the front seat.
-Children under age 12 occupy all rear seats.
-Medical reason (written by the pediatrician) requires that child not be restrained in the back seat. All children are safer in the back seat, ask another adult to ride with the child in the back.
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My thoughts are that most states require providers to have specific insurance coverage (higher liability coverage etc) in order to transport child care children. ...
I am wondering if the insurance the provider has is applicable to her RV and maybe since licensing does not or did not approve the use of an RV for transporting DCK's thus the citation.
I also think child care regulations super-cede the CHP laws about RV's since most RV use is by a family unit and not necessarily by a child care provider transporting someone else's kids. kwim?Comment
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We do not have to have specific insurance to transport in CA.
I believe the OP was operating legally within the STATE law, but we all know that CA licensing lives in their own little world.
You will have a very tough time getting a reversal of the citation. I have never heard of a single person winning one.Comment
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I personally only know of one person winning a reversal and one other one that I don't personally know ... so in total, just two.
One was when a new analyst was being trained and the visit consisted of the analyst in training, the analyst that was training the new analyst and the licensing director. The analyst didn't find a single thing wrong but according to the provider (I know her) the director kept checking everything and seemed to be trying to find something wrong. The director found one of these ...
... but since the connector had been removed (she decided she didn't want a TV in the daycare room) and the protruding part as well. The cable had been pushed through the hole and into the wall and the cable disconnected by a cable guy at the source. It was not a live wire and did not have any power in it at all. It wasn't connected to anything. The director got down onto the floor and looked into the hole and said she could see the wire inside and cited her for "exposed wires". The provider hired an electrician to test the wire and write up a report and then she appealed the citation and won.
The second was a provider who forgot a child in her van on a field trip. They tried to revoke her license and closed her down but she fought it. A child hid under her seats in the van and somehow her assistant miscounted. They were on a field trip to the mall for some craft time and when they got inside and recounted they realized that a child was missing. It took all of 10 minutes for her to return to the van to get the child but someone had already called the police. She had to hire an attorney and the whole ordeal took 8 months but she won her appeal and got to keep her license (on probationary terms).Comment
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I want to put this out there as non-confrontationally as possible. Even if you were technically wrongfully cited because of a loophole about the RV falling under different rules please keep in mind that vehicle collisions are a leading cause of death for children and youth. Legal does not always equal best practice. Car seats and booster seats need to be on forward facing vehicle seats to work properly and children need to be in booster seats until an average of 4'9" for the adult seat belt to properly fit and therefore properly protect them.Comment
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I see the citation as a childcare issue and not a DMV issue. You need to abide by both but your childcare standards override your vehicle laws in this situation. CCL wrote the citation not the CHP. Does the citation reflect on your RV insurance?Last edited by Michael; 11-09-2014, 04:34 PM.Comment
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