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Show B2 Hilttop December 4 . 1 997 IEnacIkfle nap - ntt's ttflne flaw Forty-nin- e states (except New Hampshire) and the District of Columbia have mandatory seat belt laws. In most of the states, the laws cover front seat occupants. Only the belt laws in Alaska, California, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington cover all rear seat occupants, too. People in passenger cars, pickup trucks, utility vehicles, and vans are required to comply with seat belt laws in most jurisdiction, but in a few states, occu- pants of some kinds of vehicles (usually pickup trucks) Because enforcement and fines differ under belt use and child restraint laws, it's important to know which law is being violated when a child isn't restrained. Safety belt laws don't always make the driver responsible for the compliance of passengers, even young passengers. Most child restraint laws cover children in all kinds of motor vehicles. Most require all drivers to restrain children, but some still apply only to parents or guardians. The laws in 11 states apply only to children in vehicles registered in the state or to the children of residents. are exempt. In Utah, children years old must be in a child restraint seat or in a vehicle safety belt. The maximum fine for the first offense is $75. The safety belt use laws in Utah require that children age 10 and over must wear a safety belt while riding in the front 0-- 9 Think safety, avoid mishaps seat. But there is no stan- dard enforcement. The maximum fine for the first offense is $10. In 17 states, the safety belt defense is allowed. Damages collected by someone involved in a crash may be reduced if the person failed to use a seat belt. The reduction is only permitted for injuries caused by the nonuse of belts and in some states, the reduction may not exceed a fixed percentage of the damages. All 50 states and the District of Columbia have child restraint laws, and all of these laws are standard. They require children to travel in approved child restraint devices, and require older children to use adult safety belts. The age at which safety belts can be used instead of child restraints differs among the states. Young children are usually covered by child restraint laws, while safety belts cover older children and adults. Ideally, all infants and children in all vehicles should be covered by safety belt laws or child restraint laws or both. But differences in the way the laws in various states are worded result in many occupants, especially children, being covered by neither law. Lawmakers are eliminating these gaps by amending their child restraint and safety belt laws. They also should make certain that police can stop drivers to enforce restraint laws covering children. In 22 jurisdictions, all children youngei than 16 are covered by one or both laws. State laws change continually. So for updates visit the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's website at: http:www.hwysafety.org. Airbags save adult lives Precautions needed when considering children that is credited with saving hundreds of adult lives every year, can seriously hurt and even kill children if proper precautions are not taken. The Utah Safety Council recommends that all children under age 12 be properly restrained in the back seat of any vehicle equipped with a passenger side air bag. Air bags are designed for frontal impact crashes, the kind of crash which accounts for more than half of all passenger vehicle occupant deaths. Air bags are designed to limit head and chest injuries. But they only supplement safety belts, they don't replace them. braking, which occurs in the majorDuring An air bag, a device pre-cras- h ity of crashes, an unrestrained passenger can be thrown toward the dashboard area, in immediate proximity to an air bag. Since air bags deflate faster than the blink of an eye, unrestrained drivers or passengers can receive serious and even fatal injuries from deploying airbags. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has identified 40 crashes where the deployment of the air bag resulted in fatal head or neck passenger-sid- e injuries to a child. Ten of these deaths were to infants in rear facing child safety seats. Most of the other 30 Safety is an important issue in the Air Force and the other branches of the military. Here are some incidents from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corp. Humvee failed to yield at an intersection and hit a hatchback car. It took $7,000 to repair the hatchback. A Marine in a lance corporal picked up a brand new truck. He got in and put the truck in reverse. Meanwhile a Marine parked his car behind the truck. The truck didn't seem to have a lot of power so he pushed the gas pedal harder and backed over the car. He stopped when he heard the car's side windows and the windshield shattering. The truck was also pitched up so high in the rear that he had to grab onto things inside and brace his feet against the dashboard to keep from falling out of the cab. A five-to- n seaman was using a buffer and the power cord coiled two or three times around her legs. She let go of the buffer. The cord snapped tight, yanked her feet from under her and she fell flat on her back in a pool of wax stripper A children were determined to be completely unbuckled, and water. "out of posi tion," or wearing only the lap portion of the safety belt, (improperly restrained) at the time of the crash. Some tips: Infants must never ride in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger air bag. Children under age 12 should always be properly restrained in the back seat. Every passenger in a vehicle must be restrained with a safety belt or in a child safety seat. sailor decided to take a break and released the trigger on his disk sander and dropped it on the deck. But the power was still going so the sander ran across the deck. The sailor got down on one knee and caught it. But he caught it by the trigger and squeezed it. It dug into his leg and shredded his kneecap. A Marine sentry managed to holster and fire his Berretta automatic in one move. It put a four-inccrease in his thigh and a tiny hole in the dirt next to his foot. A h For more information call the Utah Safety Council, outside the Salt Lake metro or area. A lance corporal inadvertently fired an illumination from his M203 while he was cradling Safe winter driving tips offered In a saloon, a Marine was thrown from a mechanical bull and landed half on and half off the mat. The part that missed the mat was his head. He fractured his skull and lost his sense of smell. To help keep motorists safe this holiday season and throughout the winter, the Utah Safety Council offers these winter driving tips: Brush all the snow off the windshield, windows, mirrors, roof, hood and trunk, so the driver has clear vision at all times. Minimize gear shifting to prevent skidding, accelerate gradually and brake gently by pumping the brakes. If the car is equipped with ABS brakes, don't pump the brakes, but maintain a constant pressure on the brake pedal. If the car does skid, steer in the same direction that the rear is sliding, being careful not to over correct. Have an emergency kit in the car. An ideal kit contains a flashlight, blanket, warning flares, scraper with brush, tow chain, jumper cables, shovel, candle, matches and two carpet rem 626-540- 0 nants. A carpet remnant is useful to gain traction if a car gets stuck. Place the remnants in front of the driving wheels and then slowly drive over them. Get plenty of rest before traveling long distances and remember to take stretching breaks. Never drive sleepy - pull over and take a quick nap if necessary. Everyone buckle up. Ensure that children are always buckled in at all times. When on a long trip, plan rest stops no more s than one and a apart. Infants and children of attention. lots need and Reading, singing enjoy and playing quiet games will help keep them happy. For a free Winter Driving Checklist, call the Utah or outside Safety Council. the Salt Lake metro area. half-hour- 262-540- 0 the weapon in his arm. He shot off his thumb. A sailor drank a six-pac- k and then dove into three feet of water, ignoring the signs saying not to dive. When he was pulled from the bot- tom of the pool, he was dead. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation brought him back, but he's now a quadriplegic. A chief was looking around in the dark for his gym gear. He found one sneaker and then the other. He tried to put one of them on and put his toes through the front of the sneaker. He went to his tool box and got out a glue gun and plugged it in. He poked the nozzle in his shoe and pulled the trigger. But he didn't bother to take of f his shoe. He glued his toes together and to the bottom of the sneaker. |