Grand Island, Neb. — Seven Grand Island auto and truck dealerships pooled their resources to help purchase $6,000 in car seats for young children in low-income families and those with special medical needs.
Anderson Auto Group (Ford-Lincoln-Kia), Cornhusker Toyota-Honda, Tom Dinsdale Chevrolet-Cadillac-GMC, Hansen International Truck Inc., Nebraska Peterbilt, Roe Buick, and Roy’s Grand Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep. Their contributions totaled $3,000, enough for the Child Safety program at CHI Health St. Francis to receive an additional $3,000 matching grant from the Cornhusker Motor Club Foundation.
The matching funds may be used to purchase child safety seats for low-income families, host training events for CPS technicians and instructors, or host free CPS inspection events as part of our Cornhusker Motor Club Child AAA Safety Matching Funds Program. The Child Safety program primarily uses the funds to purchase car seats.
“We are especially grateful to these Grand Island dealers for stepping forward and making it possible for our community to receive this matching grant from Cornhusker AAA Foundation,” said Claire Aguilar, director of the St. Francis Foundation. “We do know that properly installed car seats have saved lives and reduced injuries to children in Central Nebraska.”
The purpose of the Child Safety Program is to educate families on proper car seat use and installation. When installed properly, child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent for infants and by 54 percent for toddlers in passenger cars, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA). To assure that all area children are safe, the program provides car seats to low-income families at a reduced rate.
A National Child Restraint Use special study determined that 75 percent of car seats and booster seats are improperly installed or misused.
Children 12 and under are safest when properly buckled in the back seat, Children in rear-facing child seats should not be placed in the front seats of vehicles because the deployment of passenger air bags can cause greater harm to young children.
According to the NHTSA, more than 171,000 kids were injured and more than 1,200 died in car crashes in 2010 (most recent reporting year) — enough to rank motor vehicle crashes as a leading cause of death for children in the U.S.
During the past five years (2010-2014), 11 children age 4 and under died in Nebraska, according to NHTSA data. During that same period the lives of 10 children were saved through child safety seat use.