• Nebraska's child restraint law: A middle ground between best practice and politics.Nebraska state contour against blurred USA flag image by Stasys Eidiejus from Fotolia.com
  
  According to the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), six kids, from birth to age 14, were killed, and 1,382 additional children were injured on Nebraska roads in 2008. As the DMV points out, Nebraska's law is a "compromise" between the "best practice" advice of child passenger safety authorities and what is politically feasible from a legislative standpoint in the state.
  
  

Nebraska's Child Restraint Law

• Motor vehicle drivers in Nebraska are responsible for securing children, 5 years of age and younger, in a child restraint device, according to the state's child restraint law. Nebraska permits adult seat belt use for minors between 6 and 17 years old. As the DMV explains, the law does not provide for maximum child passenger safety. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommends that parents and other drivers go above and beyond the law. HHS suggests rear-facing, infant-only car seats from birth until 18 to 22 lbs. Children should ride rear-facing for as long as their car seat manufacturer allows before moving to a forward-facing car seat when the child reaches 40 lbs. HHS urges parents to secure children in booster seats from 40 lbs. until 80 to 100 lbs.
  
  

Exceptions and Enforcement

• Nebraska excludes taxis, mopeds, motorcycles, and vehicles produced prior to 1964 that are not equipped with occupant protection systems from the child restraint law. You are also exempt from the law if a doctor concludes that a medical reason prohibits your child from using a child restraint device. You must carry a letter from your physician stating the reasons for this opinion. Nebraska also excludes emergency vehicles and vehicles riding in a parade or exhibition from the child restraint law.
  
  The child safety seat portion of the law is a primary law, while the seat belt segment uses secondary enforcement. Under a primary law, Nebraska law enforcement can stop you simply for violating the child restraint law. With secondary enforcement, you must commit some other traffic offense in order to receive a child restraint citation. Nebraska hands out a $25 fine for each violation.
  
  

Use and Convictions

• According to the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety, child restraint use in the state has risen steadily over the years. In 2009, compliance stood at 95.4 percent, a small drop from 2008's 96.8 percent rate. In 1999, only 56.1 percent of motorists in Nebraska adhered to the state's child passenger safety law. Throughout the first decade of the 21st century, the usage rate steadily climbed to its 2008 peak.
  
  Convictions have also risen over the same time period. In 1999, Nebraska recorded 1,017 convictions. That number hit a crescendo of 2,063 in 2003, dropping to its current level of 1,628 convictions in 2009.