11.8 Have Others Review the Draft, Then Finalize It

Rebecca’s Experience

One of the bigger challenges I faced while drafting a car seat law for the Colville Reservation was getting representatives of the tribe to review my proposed submissions. I didn’t know who needed to review the draft. I decided to target the three groups below. When I asked for feedback, I experienced everything from blanket approvals to criticism on some of the minutest details.

1. Advocacy committee: The advocacy committee consisted of me, the Colville Native CARS coordinator, the Tribal Health Programs supervisor, and the Colville Tribes Traffic Safety Coordinator. While there was limited support from other individuals, the bulk of the review was between the four of us. While a larger team would have been good to help promote the drafted law with the business council, the small size allowed for quick review and more freedom on my part to make decisions on what to incorporate in the drafted law.

2. Tribal lawyers and judges: During the review process I had a tribal attorney give his opinion, as well as a tribal judge. The attorney didn’t give feedback in the form of changes, so much as counseled about what to expect as a reaction from the business council. The judge just gave approval of the proposed changes, but nothing of note that needed to be changed.

3. Another safety coalition: I emailed a copy to a member of the Washington State Safety Coalition for further review. The Washington State Safety Coalition is a state-specific grassroots organization specializing in promoting seat belt laws and car seat laws. They also provide on-going training to CPS technicians, conduct safety research, and gather current data relating to car seat use in their state. Their technical support in terms of getting a review of my car seat law draft helped me target weak points in the law to ensure the law’s ability to adjust with changing recommendations.