Floor Debate March 08, 2018
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Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Floor Debate March 08, 2018 [LB42 LB44 LB379 LB439A LB439 LB697 LB808 LB811 LB826 LB874 LB944 LB977 LB982 LB990 LB993 LB1008 LB1047 LB1048 LB1081A LB1082 LB1090 LB1112 LB1132 LR296 LR340 LR341 LR342] PRESIDENT FOLEY PRESIDING PRESIDENT FOLEY: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the George W. Norris Legislative Chamber for the thirty-ninth day of the One Hundred Fifth Legislature, Second Session. Our chaplain for today is Senator Williams. Please rise. SENATOR WILLIAMS: (Prayer offered.) PRESIDENT FOLEY: Thank you, Senator Williams. I call to order the thirty-ninth day of the One Hundred Fifth Legislature, Second Session. Senators, please record your presence. Roll call. Mr. Clerk, please record. CLERK: I have a quorum present, Mr. President. PRESIDENT FOLEY: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Are there any corrections for the Journal? CLERK: I have no corrections. PRESIDENT FOLEY: Thank you, sir. Any messages, reports, or announcements? CLERK: Mr. President, at this time I have neither messages, reports, nor announcements. PRESIDENT FOLEY: Thank you, sir. (Doctor of the day introduced.) Let us proceed to the agenda, General File 2018 senator priority bills. Mr. Clerk. CLERK: LB42 is a bill by Senator Hilkemann. (Read title.) Introduced on January 5 of last year, at that time referred to the Transportation Committee. The bill was reported to General File. There are Transportation Committee amendments, Mr. President. (AM1965, Legislative Journal page 700.) [LB42] PRESIDENT FOLEY: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Senator Hilkemann, you're recognized to open on LB42. [LB42] 1 Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Floor Debate March 08, 2018 SENATOR HILKEMANN: Thank you, Mr. Lieutenant Governor. I bring to your attention LB42, an important piece of legislation regarding child passenger safety. I would like to thank the members of the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee for advancing this bill to General File and a special thanks to Senator Hilgers for working with me to improve the language of this bill, which is reflected in AM1965. LB42 with the amendment attached would make three changes. Currently when children reach their sixth birthday, state law allows them to ride with only a seat belt in a motor vehicle. This bill would change that to their eighth birthday, so until that time we would ask that these young people remain in an approved booster seat. Secondly, the bill states that infants shall ride in a rear-facing car seat until the age of two unless the child outgrows the manufacturer's maximum allowable weight or height requirements. Thirdly, the bill would require children under the age of eight to be seated in a seat other than a front seat if such seat or seats are so equipped with such a passenger restraint system and such seat or seats are not already occupied by a child or children under the age of eight. Now I'm going take each of these points one at a time; but before I do that, I want you each to ponder this question: How do parents determine that a child could ride without a booster seat at the age of six? Now do you think the majority of parents researched the height and weight requirements established by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration or the American Academy of Pediatrics? I'm sure there are some that do, but some simply put their trust in the laws of the state of Nebraska. They accept and comply by...based on what this body determines is safe. We are to set the standards. And, friends, with today's laws we are doing them a disservice. We can do better. Let's talk about the history of how the Legislature's taken action to protect child passengers. It was in 1982 that the first car seat law was put into Nebraska statute. We required persons licensed to provide foster care to transport children either in an approved child passenger restraint system for each child or for children older than age one to be secured by a seat safety belt. In 1983, we required all children under age four to be secured in a child passenger restraint system or use a seat safety belt for children over age one. Did you hear that? If you're hearing this right, then you realize that a child was one year and one day old could legally ride in only a seat belt in the state of Nebraska. Doesn't that seem overwhelming when we think about...knowing what we do today about keeping our infants and toddler passengers safe? In 1990, we added to the definition of children required to be transported in child passenger restraint systems as a child weighing 40 pounds or less, so under four years old or 40 pounds had to ride in a child seat. We also added that children younger than five years of age should use a seat belt. Now in 2000, the new requirement was that all children the age of 5 use a child passenger restraint system, and all children under the age of 16 use a seat belt. In 2002, we set the laws that currently reads that all children up to six years of age be in a child passenger restraint system. Children age 6-18 must wear a seat belt. Over the course of 20 years, improvements in child passenger safety went from having a newborn in a car seat to having a 6- year-old in a car seat, and from having a 1-year-old in a seat belt to having a 17-year-old in a seat belt. Now this brings me to the reasons why in 2018 it is time to once again improve the way child passengers are safely transported. On a child's sixth birthday, we say that the child no 2 Transcript Prepared By the Clerk of the Legislature Transcriber's Office Floor Debate March 08, 2018 longer is required to ride in a car seat. That child was most likely riding in a booster safety seat and according to the law could move from being transported with only a seat belt, but seat belts in cars are designed for the safety of a 165-pound male adult. Now that's much bigger than the average six-year-old. Changing the law to have children through age seven safely transported in an approved booster safety seat will keep those children safer. From the materials that I've provided for you on the floor today, I want to quote: When children are moved into a seat belt before it fits properly--here's the real reason why we need to do this and why we need to use these booster seats--is that the lap belt can ride up against the abdomen. And during a crash, the soft tissue of the abdomen allows the lap belt to actually compress into the body, causing internal abdominal and spinal fracture injuries. The shoulder belt, if positioned improperly behind the back or on the neck, can cause head and neck injuries. If we don't do this, children, young children, will take that shoulder belt and they'll flip it behind because they don't like it right underneath their neck. So "According to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, among children 4-8 years of age, those who were in a seat belt at the time of a crash were more than three times as likely to sustain an abdominal injury compared with children in a belt-positioning booster." Colleagues, we are protecting our four- and five-year-olds, but our six- and seven-year-olds need and deserve the same protection. And we have the data, and the time to act is now. Number two of this bill is the second provision which contained in LB42 and AM1965 states that all children up to two years of age shall use a rear-facing child passenger restraint system until the child outgrows the child passenger restraint system manufacturer's maximum allowable height or weight. Again, from the information provided to you in the handouts, I quote: The American Academy of Pediatrics states that all infants and toddlers should ride in a rear-facing seat until they are at least two years of age or, preferably, until they reach the height and weight allowed by their car seat manufacturers. Research shows children up to two years of age are placed in forward-facing child safety seats are significantly more likely to be seriously injured in a crash than children of the same age in rear-facing child safety seats. Since the American Association of Pediatrics' two-year rear-facing requirement recommendation in 2011, nine states have updated their laws to meet today's standards. The goal of rear-facing child restraints is to protect the child's head, neck, and spinal cord. The bones in the neck of children under age two are not developed enough to protect the spinal cord in a crash. When a child is involved in a car crash in a forward-facing car seat, the weight of the head combined with the immature skeleton can cause the spinal cord to stretch up to two inches. If the spinal cord stretches just a half an inch, it will snap. This is known as an internal decapitation and causes paralysis or death. [LB42] PRESIDENT FOLEY: One minute. [LB42] SENATOR HILKEMANN: The third provision in LB42 states that all children up to eight years of age shall occupy a seat or seats other than a front seat if such seat or seats are so equipped with such passenger restraint system and such seat or seats are not already occupied by a child or children under eight years of age.