§ 70.057. CHILD PASSENGER RESTRAINT SYSTEM.

(A) Definition. For purposes of this section, CHILD PASSENGER RESTRAINT SYSTEM shall mean a system which meets the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213 as developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as of July 10, 1990, or other safety standards which may be hereafter promulgated by the Federal Government and which system is correctly installed in the motor vehicle.

(B) Use required. It shall be unlawful for any person who resides in the State and drives or operates any motor vehicle which has or is required to have an occupant protection system to transport any child under the age of four or weighing less than 40 pounds without securing the child in a child passenger restraint system which meets the requirements referenced in division (A) of this section.

(C) Other children. Any child which weighs at least 40 pounds or being at least four years old and which is not secured in a child passenger restraint system shall be secured in an occupant protection system.

(1) This division (C) shall apply to any children weighing at least 40 pounds or being at least four years old who are being transported in any motor vehicle which is equipped with an occupant protection system, or is required to be equipped with restraint systems pursuant to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208.

(2) This division (C) shall not apply to taxicabs, mopeds, motorcycles and any other motor vehicle designated by the manufacturer as a 1963 year model or earlier which is not equipped with an occupant protection system.

(D) Exceptions. This section shall not apply to the following:

(1) Drivers of authorized emergency vehicles when operating the vehicles pursuant to their employment; or

(2) Whenever any physician licensed to practice medicine in the State determines, through accepted medical procedures, that use of a child passenger restraint system by a particular child would be harmful by reason of the child’s weight, physical condition or other medical reason. The driver of any vehicle transporting such a child shall carry on the child’s person or in the vehicle a written statement signed by the physician, identifying the child and stating the grounds for the exemption.

(E) Penalties. Any person who violates divisions (B) or (C) of this section shall be fined $25 for each violation. The failure to provide a child restraint system for more than one child in the same vehicle at the same time as required in division (B) or (C) of this section shall not be treated as a separate offense. Any person who has acquired the statement authorized by division (D)(2) of this section but fails to show a Police Officer the statement when requested to do so shall be fined $10 for each offense. The failure to produce a statement for more than one child in the same vehicle at the same time shall not be treated as a separate offense.

(F) Defense. Any person who is charged with a violation of this section, who does not have in that person’s possession a child restraint system meeting the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213, and who subsequently purchases or rents for a one-year period such a system prior to that person’s court appearance shall, upon presentation of proof of purchase or proof of rental for a one-year period of such a system, be able to utilize the presentation as an absolute defense and cause for dismissal of the charge upon payment of court costs, if any.

(‘63 Code, § 10-5-35) (Ord. 98-27, passed 7-20-98)

Statutory reference:

Related provisions, see Neb. RS 60-6,267