Click here to access the Nebraska Safe Kids website to register for a CPS technician certification course.

Nebraska Child Passenger Safety Technician Update for 2013

Like Check-Up Events, parents can get information and assistance on the proper use of child safety seats at inspection stations. Unlike Check-Up Events, inspection stations are permanent locations.

Most inspection stations require you to schedule an appointment.

Click here to view a list of inspection stations located in Nebraska.

Click here to locate a child passenger safety technician.

The purpose of this application is to be recognized as a Nebraska CSS inspection station. Applicants must be either a political subdivision or 501c3 non–profit organization. Upon recognition as a Nebraska CSS inspection station the organization may conduct child safety seat inspections as outlined in the application guidelines. Nebraska CSS inspection stations are eligible for funding assistance to purchase child restraint systems for low-income families.

Prior to completing a mini-grant contract every state, county, community, law enforcement agency, organization, etc. eligible to apply and receive federal funding must read and comply with the guidelines of the Grant Contract Proposal Guide and Policies and Procedures document.
Click to download the "Grant Contract Proposal Guide and Policies and Procedures"

• Child Safety Seat Inspection Station Guidelines
• Child Safety Seat Inspection Station Application
• Child Safety Seat Inspection Station Certification and Assurances Form
• Child Safety Seat Inspection Station Inventory Status Report
• Child Restraint Systems Mini-Grant Contract Application and Award
• Child Passenger Safety Technician Training Application - This application is used to determine if applicant meets the required criteria to sponsor a Nebraska Child Passenger Safety Technician Training.

The differences between what is "Legal" and what is "Recommended:"

Parents and other caregivers frequently ask the question “what is the law regarding buckling up my child?” Most parents and caregivers assume the law is the safest and what is recommended by safety experts. However, this is not always the case. Like other states' restraint laws, the Nebraska child passenger safety and safety belt laws are the result of compromises between the “best practice” recommendations of safety experts and provisions the legislators feel are practical, enforceable, and will be tolerated by the general public and their constituents.

Occupant restraint laws should be considered to be the minimum standards. The two biggest differences between what is legal vs. what is recommended are:

1.  The laws are based on age whereas “best practice” recommendations for the best crash
     protection are based on weight and physical development.

2.  None of these laws require all occupants be buckled up at all times in all seating positions.

Parents and caregivers can be assured if they follow the "best practice" guidelines and recommendations for restraining children, it WILL be legal as well.

Important Safety Reminders

"Best Practice” recommendations for providing maximum protection for an infant, child, or adult can be found on Safe Kids Nebraska website. For additional information on restraining children past age five Click here to view the "Boosters Are For Big Kids" flyer.

Putting a child's safety seat into a vehicle can be confusing.  Installing a child safety seat properly is important for your child's safety!  For tip on proper installation information click on any of the following links to external websites:

• American Academy of Pediatrics
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (multimedia site with videos)
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
• Safe Kids Worldwide
• SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A.
• CarSeatData
• Special Needs Transportation: Indiana School of Medicine

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• Child Safety Seat Manufacturers / Vehicle Manufacturers
• Upcoming Car Seat Check-Up Events

Check-Up events are set up in public areas such as shopping center parking lots. Checks are conducted for a set period of time (usually 3-4 hours). Parents and caregivers bring their child’s safety seat, motor vehicle, and child to the event. Trained child passenger safety technicians perform an evaluation for all children in the vehicle who are under 13 years old.

They will check for the following:

• Correct selection (is the child safety seat the correct size for the child).
• Harnessing (is the child secured correctly in the child safety seat).
• Installation (is the child safety seat correctly installed in the vehicle).
• Recalls (is there a manufacturing defect with the child safety seat).

To find out when the next event will be held in your area, click on Nebraska Safe Kid’s website and click on “Calendar of Events.”  The Safe Kids Nebraska Toll-Free Phone Number is 1-800-745-9311

In the United States, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children age 3 to 14 years old  (based on 2007 figures, from National Center for Health Statistics). During 2009, an average of 4 children age 14 and younger were killed and 490 were injured every day in motor vehicle crashes. (Source: NHTSA 2009)

Child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent for infants and by 54 percent for toddlers in passenger cars. (Source: NHTSA 2009)

During 2011 on Nebraska roadways:

• Two children ages 0-4 were killed and 317 children were injured;
• 425 children between the ages of 5-9 were injured;
• and between the ages of 10-14 another 596 children were injured.

2012 Child Safety Seat/Booster Seat Survey Result:

In Nebraska, child safety seat use is surveyed annually through observations conducted in rural and urban counties. Among the children observed in the 2012 study, 95.9% were riding in child safety seats/booster seats. This rate is comparable to the rates for the last few years (95.1% in 2011; 91.5% in 2010; and 95.1% in 2009).  These  rates are significantly higher than the rate observed when NOHS began this series of surveys in 1999 (56.2%).

Total observed child restraint use in rural counties increased from 93.0% in 2011 to 96.0% in 2012; urban counties decreased slightly from 96.0% in 2011 to 95.8% in 2012. Of the number of children in safety seats/booster seats:

• 96.8% of children were in rear seats of vehicles; 3.2% were in front seat;
• 96.2% of children in rural counties were in the rear seat of vehicles; 3.8% were in the
   front seat;
• 97.1% of children in urban counties were in the rear seat of vehicles; 2.9% were in the
   front seat.

Of the small number of children not in child safety seat/booster seats:

• 81.4% of children were observed in the rear seat of the vehicles;
• 18.6% of children were observed in the front seat;
• 25% of children were in rural counties; and
• 16.1% of children were in urban counties.

Link to:

• Child Restraint Usage Rate Chart - 1999–2012
• Children (Ages 0-10) Killed in Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes - 1999–2011
• Children (Ages 0-15) Killed in Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes - 1999–2011
• Child Restraint Convictions - 1999-2012
• The Use of Child Safety Seats In Nebraska - Fall 2012

NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts: 

• Children - 2007, 2008, 2009
• Child Restraint Use in 2006 – Overall Results

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• Brochures and Posters

• Bucklebear® Lap Puppet

• CPS Training Contacts for Other States

• Recertification Information (link to Safe Kids Worldwide website)