Legal Immunity Proposed For Child Removal From Hot Car
Lincoln – A person assisting a child believed to be in imminent danger would be eligible for legal immunity under a bill heard by the Judiciary Committee Jan. 31.
LB 832, sponsored by Brainard Sen. Bruce Bostelman, would provide criminal and civil immunity for a person who, acting in good faith, removes a child reasonably believed to be in imminent danger from a locked motor vehicle.
According to the “Kids in Hot Cars” report, Bostelman said, 53 children younger than 15 died of heat stroke in hot vehicles in 2019.
Immunity would be contingent upon the person using no more force than reasonably necessary and notifying law enforcement or emergency services as soon as reasonably practical. The person must remain with the child in a safe location in reasonable proximity to the vehicle until the arrival of either law enforcement, emergency services personnel, a parent, guardian or adult relative of the child or the owner of the vehicle.
Speaking in support of the bill was Trisha Nicolas of Bellwood. Her one-year-old son, Weston, died after being left in a hot vehicle all day. After a sleepless night caring for her ill son, she said, a sleep-deprived Nicolas took a new route to work, forgetting about her sleeping child in the backseat.
“Had someone heard him, I wouldn’t want them to worry about breaking into my van,” she said.
– Nebraska Unicameral Information Office
User login
Omaha Daily Record
The Daily Record
222 South 72nd Street, Suite 302
Omaha, Nebraska
68114
United States
Tele (402) 345-1303
Fax (402) 345-2351