Remember to Join us at the First Annual Central Nebraska Kids Safety Day

May 18 is Safe Kids Day. Join us at the Buffalo County Expo Center for Safety FUN!

Good Morning Nebraska - Nebraska Safety Center May Update

Good Morning Nebraska - Nebraska Safety Center May Update

Kids Safety Day

May 18 is Safe Kids Day. Join us at the Buffalo County Expo Center for Safety FUN!

National Bike to School Day

Today is National Bike to School Day!

Biking is a great way to get to school, unfortunately, more kids ages 5 to 14 are seen in emergency rooms for injuries related to biking than any other sport. Each year, 112 children die from bike-related injuries and more than 289,000 nonfatal bike injuries occur.


Safe Kids Worldwide offers these tips to stay safe when biking:

• We have a simple saying: "Use your head, wear a helmet." It is the single most effective safety device available to reduce head injury and death from bicycle crashes.
• Tell your kids to ride on the right side of the road, with traffic, not against it. Stay as far to the right as possible. Use appropriate hand signals and respect traffic signals, stopping at all stop signs and stoplights.
• Teach your kids to make eye contact with drivers. Bikers should make sure drivers are paying attention and are going to stop before they cross the street.
• When riding at dusk, dawn or in the evening, be bright and use lights – and make sure your bike has reflectors as well. It's also smart to wear clothes and accessories that have retro-reflective materials to improve biker visibility to motorists.
• Actively supervise children until you're comfortable that they are responsible to ride on their own.

More tips are available at http://www.safekids.org/tip/bike-safety-tips

Motorcycle Safety Month

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is reminding drivers of cars, trucks and buses to look out for, and share the road with, motorcycle riders.

According to NHTSA - despite historical declines in automobile fatalities, motorcycle deaths have increased every year for the past 14 years except in 2009 when there was a 16 percent decline.


To prevent motorcyclist's deaths and injuries, NHTSA offers the following safety recommendations:
For motorcyclists:

• Never ride impaired or distracted.
• Obey traffic laws, wear DOT-compliant helmets and other protective gear.
• Make yourself visible by wearing bright colors and using reflective tape.
• Avoid riding in poor weather conditions.
• Use turn signals for every turn or lane change, even if you think no one will see it.
• Combine hand signals and turn signals to draw more attention to yourself.
• Position yourself in the lane where you will be most visible to other drivers.

For more information, visit http://www.nhtsa.gov/Safety/Motorcycles.

Bicycle Safety

With warmer temperatures - kids and bikes can be seen in most neighborhoods.

Biking is fun, healthy, and a great way to get around and be independent. But your bike is a vehicle, not a toy. Some bike crashes can cause serious injuries and most are related to the behavior of you (the bicyclist) or the motorist. There are a number of things you can teach your children to prevent a crash, and protect your brain if a crash occurs.

Remind your rider to:

• Always wear a Bike Helmet. Helmets protect your brain, and can save your life.
• Make sure the bike fits the rider. When standing over your bike, there should be 1 to 2 inches between the rider and the top tube (bar) if using a road bike and 3 to 4 inches if using a mountain bicycle. The seat should be level front to back, and the height should be adjusted to allow a slight bend at the knee when the leg is fully extended. The handlebar height should be at the same level with the seat.
• Check Your Bike. Before riding, inflate tires properly and check that the brakes work.
• See and Be Seen. Whether daytime, dawn, dusk, foul weather, or at night, make yourself visible. Wear neon, fluorescent or other bright colors when riding, to make yourselves the most visible to others. Also wear something that reflects light, such as reflective tape or markings, or flashing lights. Remember, just because you can see a driver doesn’t mean the driver can see you.
• TWO HANDS! Ride with two hands on the handlebars unless signaling a turn. Place books and other items in a bike carrier or backpack.
• Watch for and Avoid Road Hazards. Look for hazards that may make you crash, such as potholes, broken glass, gravel, puddles, leaves, and dogs.
• Use Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication. This includes eye contact with drivers, turn signals, pointing to road hazards for bicyclists behind you, and stating “passing on your left,” or “on your left.”
• Avoid Riding at Night. It’s harder for other road users to see bicyclists at dusk, dawn or nighttime. Use reflectors on the front and rear of the bike. White lights and red rear reflectors or lights are required by law in all States.

Visit NHTSA Bicycles for more bicycle safety information.

Keeping Yourself Safe

As recent news events illustrate - you cannot remove all the safety hazards from your life, but you can reduce them.

You can avoid major hazards and prepare for emergencies by taking the following steps:

• Keep emergency phone numbers by your telephones
• Make a first aid kit for your home
• Make a family emergency plan
• Install and maintain smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors
• Keep guns unloaded and locked up. Lock up the ammunition separately.
• Follow the directions carefully when using tools or equipment