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Sharon Police Officer Fontes is a certified child passenger safety technician. Installations will generally be done at the Police Station on a monthly basis please contact Officer Hocking at 781-784-1586 for specific dates and times.
CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY
Motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of death for young children. A minor crash or even a sudden stop can seriously injure a child who is not riding in the right type of child safety seat. You can reduce the risk by having your child always ride in a properly fastened and secured safety seat.
Massachusetts Child Passenger Safety Law requires children to ride as passengers in motor vehicles in a federally approved child passenger restraint that is properly fastened and secured until they are 8 years old OR over 57” tall. When selecting a car seat for your child it is very important to follow the manufactures guidelines for maximum/minimum height and weight allowed. Also, follow vehicle manufacturer’s warnings about seating children near airbags. It is recommended that children 12 and under always ride in the back seat to avoid sitting in front of an airbag.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) offers several reasons for replacing a car seat. If the car seat was involved in a moderate or severe crash it should be replaced. They do not have to be replaced if involved in a minor crash. Minor crashes meet ALL of the following criteria: Vehicles were driven from scene, vehicle door nearest the safety seat was undamaged, no injuries to the vehicle occupants, airbags did not deploy, no visible damage to the safety seat. Seats over 6 years old should also be replaced. The NHTSA also recommends you check to see if you car seat has been recalled before using it.
When installing a child passenger restraint in your vehicle follow both the vehicle’s owner’s manual instructions and the car seat manufacturer’s instructions to insure proper installation. If you would like further assistance with your seats installation you can contact me, Officer Steve Fontes, at the Sharon Police Department 781-784-1587 to make an appointment. I will be scheduling one day per month for installations. For more information on child passenger safety you can check the following web sites: www.nhtsa.gov and www.mass.gov/childsafetyseats.
The law does not apply to:
1. Children in school buses.
2. Children riding in a vehicle made before July 1, 1966 that does not
have safety belts.
3. Children physically unable to use either a conventional car seat or
a child restraint specifically designed for children with special
needs. Inability to use a child restraint of either type must be
certified in writing by physician.
The safest place for children is in the back seat.
All infants should remain rear-facing until at least one year of age AND at least 20 lbs.
Never place a rear-facing child safety seat in a front passenger seat with an air bag.
FINE: The driver will be fined $25.00 for each unrestrained child.
For more information call the Massachusetts Governor's Highway Safety Bureau at 617-973-8900, or the Injury Prevention and Control Program, MA Dept. of Public Health, toll free at 1-800-227-SAFE.
Air bags save lives
They work best when everyone is buckled and children are properly restrained in the back seat. Children riding in the front seat can be seriously injured or killed when an air bag comes out in a crash.
An air bag is not a soft, billowy pillow. To do its important job, an air bag comes out of the dashboard at up to 200 miles per hour — faster than the blink of an eye. The force of an air bag can hurt those who are too close to it.
Drivers can prevent air bag-related injuries to adults and children by following the critical safety points:
Child Safety Points
Children 12 and under should ride buckled up in a rear seat.
Infants in rear facing child safety seats should NEVER ride in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger side air bag.
Small children should ride in a rear seat in child safety seats approved for their age and size.
If a child over one year old must ride in the front seat with a passenger side air bag, put the child in a front facing child safety seat, a booster seat, or a correct fitting lap/shoulder belt — AND move the seat as far back as possible.
Adult Safety Points
Everyone should buckle up with both lap and shoulder belts on every trip. Air bags are supplemental protection devices.
The lap belt should be worn under the abdomen and low across the hips. The shoulder portion should come over the collar bone away from the neck and cross over the breast bone.
The shoulder belt in most new cars can be adjusted on the side pillar to improve fit.
Driver and front passenger seats should be moved as far back as practical, particularly for shorter statured people.
Questions & Answers About Air Bag Safety
The following information is designed to give basic air bag safety tips and answer the most commonly asked questions addressing air bag safety issues.
If you, or someone you know, receives calls concerning air bag safety, use this sheet as a quick, accurate reference. For more information or answers to other air bag-related questions, contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Auto Safety Hotline at 1-800-424-9393 or http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
Basic Safety Tips
The back seat is the safest place for children of any age to ride.
Never put an infant (less than one year old) in the front of a vehicle with a passenger-side air bag.
Infants must always ride in the back seat facing the rear of the car.
Make sure everyone is buckled up. Unbuckled occupants can be hurt or killed by an air bag.
Questions and Answers
Q: Should I put a rear-facing infant restraint in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger side air bag?
A: No. Unless the vehicle is equipped with a cut off switch for the air bag and the air bag is shut off, under absolutely no circumstances should a parent place a rear-facing infant restraint in front of an air bag.
There is an extremely high risk of severe injury or fatality in this situation, and a child should never be subjected to this risk.
Even if the air bag is shut off or there is no air bag, the safest place for all children 12 and under is in the rear seat.
Many parents are concerned about having an infant rear-facing in the rear seat. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics stresses that a healthy baby buckled correctly in a rear-facing child seat is as safe as a baby placed in a crib for a nap or overnight sleep. The risk of serious injury in a crash is much greater than the risk of a healthy baby having a life-threatening health problem during a car ride.
If no rear seat is available in which to place the rear-facing child restraint, and another mode of transportation is available, consider using that alternative.
Q: Should I put a forward-facing child safety seat in the right front seat with an air bag? Will the child be safe if the air bag deploys?
A: NHTSA recommends placing all children 12 and under in the rear seat. That is the safest place. If no option exists other than seating a young child in the front seat, several steps must be taken.
First, the child needs to be properly restrained in the child seat.
Second, the vehicle seat needs to be pushed all the way back, to maximize the distance between the child and the air bag.
Q: My child is too old for a child seat. Should I allow my child to ride in the front seat with an air bag? Will the child be safe if the air bag deploys?
A: NHTSA recommends placing all children 12 and under in the rear seat. That is the safest place. If no option exists other than seating them in the front seat, several steps need to be taken.
First, the child needs to be properly restrained. This means a booster seat plus a lap/shoulder belt or a lap/shoulder belt alone for larger children, depending on the size of the child.
Second, the vehicle seat needs to be pushed all the way back, to maximize the distance between the child and the air bag.
Third, the child needs to be sitting with his or her back against the seat back, not wiggling around or leaning forward, with as little slack as possible in the seat belt in order to minimize forward movement in a crash.
Q: I’m a short person, so I sit very close to the steering wheel. What can I do to avoid serious injuries from the air bag?
A: It is important to remember that the number of drivers killed by air bags is small and that many more drivers are saved by air bags than are killed by them. A majority of the drivers killed by an air bag were not using their safety belts.
Others were positioned too close to the steering wheel at the time of the air bag deployment. All drivers need to be properly belted and sit as far away from the air bag as possible to allow the air bag to deploy.
Air bag risk is minimal if a driver can sit 10 to 12 inches or more away from the steering wheel. Short drivers should move the drivers seat rearward to allow space between the drivers chest and the steering wheel, and the seat back should be tilted back slightly.
To the extent possible, the driver should hold the steering wheel from the sides so that his or her arms aren't between the driver and the air bag. This arm positioning reduces the risk of arm and hand injuries.
While NHTSA has not analyzed the ease of use or safety implications of pedal blocks or extenders, it is aware that they are available for use by short stature drivers.
Q: Is it safe for short adults to be seated in the front passenger seat of a vehicle equipped with a passenger-side air bag?
A: Yes. However, all passengers should be properly restrained, regardless of size. All front seat passengers (adults and children) should move the seat as far rearward as possible, and recline the seat back slightly.
In order to allow the air bag to deploy safely, front seat passengers should avoid leaning or reaching forward and should remain seated against the vehicle seat back, with as little slack in the belt as possible to minimize forward movement in a crash.
Q: Is it safe for elderly people to be seated in front of an air bag?
A: Elderly people, like all other drivers and front seat passengers, should be properly restrained and should move the seat as far rearward as possible, being careful to remain seated against the vehicle seat back and keeping the arms away from the area in which the air bag will deploy.
Q: I am pregnant. Is it safe for me to be seated in front of a air bag?
A: NHTSA is currently reviewing the effect of air bags on pregnant women. NHTSA currently recommends that pregnant women wear their seat belts. The shoulder portion should be positioned over the collar bone.
The lap portion should be placed under the abdomen as low as possible on the hips and across the upper thighs, never above the abdomen.
Also, pregnant women should sit as far from the air bag as possible.
For more information or answers to other air bag-related questions, contact NHTSA’s Auto Safety Hotline at 1-800-424-9393 or http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
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