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Hastings
Fitting Station
Nebraska
Law Change
Car
Seat Q & A (From the Hastings Fire Department)
Inspection/Fitting
Station at Lincoln Park Fire Station
Tri Cities Safe Kids, Hastings Fire Department,
Hastings Police Department, Mary Lanning Hospital, and Rural/Metro
Ambulance have teamed up to establish a permanent Child Safety Seat
Inspection Station at the Lincoln Park Fire Station.
It will be open the first Tuesday of each month from
11:00-7:00 at the Lincoln Park Fire Station at the intersection of South
Hastings Ave and J St (Highway 6). Appointments are required, and may
be made by calling 1-866-367-TCSK (8275).
Parents of children who ride in Safety Seats
(anybody under six years of age) can go there to get their seats checked
for recalls, safe installation, etc. Low- or no-cost seats are available
to those who qualify.
There are also stations in Kearney (2nd Tuesday at
Midway Chevrolet) and Grand Island (3rd Tuesday at Fire Station #4). The
4th Tuesday will be a traveling site to rural communities. There will
still be occasional Checkup events throughout the tri-cities.
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Changes to Nebraska’s Child
Passenger Safety Law
Lincoln – Beginning
July 16, all children up to age 18 will be prohibited from riding in or on
any part of a vehicle not intended for passengers. "This new law,
which prohibits children from riding in or on any cargo area of a vehicle,
is a primary law, meaning the driver can be ticketed and fined solely for
this violation," said Jeanne Bietz, Nebraska
SAFE KIDS Coordinator for the Nebraska Health and Human Services
System. "We see children in urban and rural areas of our state riding
in the back of pickup trucks. This is very unsafe and possibly
deadly." The only exemptions to this law include riding in a parade
or exhibition.
Current state law requires all children up to age
six to be properly restrained in a child safety seat and children ages 6
to 18 to use a safety belt. Parents and caregivers must realize that some
children still need to use a child safety seat such as a booster seat past
age six in order to be transported safely. Use this five-step test by
Safety Belt Safe U.S.A. to determine if a booster seat is needed:
1. Does the child sit all the way back against the
auto seat?
2. Do the child’s knees bend comfortably at the
edge of the auto seat?
3. Is the lap belt on the tops of the thighs?
4. Is the shoulder belt centered on the shoulder and
the chest?
5. Can the child stay seated like this for the WHOLE
trip?
If no was an answer to any of these questions, the
child needs a booster seat to ride safely in the vehicle.
For more information about transporting children
safely or the law, contact the Nebraska Health and Human Services SAFE
KIDS Program at 402-471-8749 or go to www.hhs.state.ne.us
and search for "safe kids."
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