The Child Passenger Safety Program is conducted in conjunction with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and National Safe Kids Program
The program is designed to educate the motoring public about Child Safety Seat issues and to promote the proper use of Child Safety Seats. You can get additional information by clicking on either of the links above, after viewing our information here.
To determine the proper way to install your child’s safety seat, please match your child’s age and size to the below criteria:
- Rear facing infant or convertible seats – One year and at least 20 pounds
- Forward facing seat – Over one year and between 20 and 40 pounds
- Booster seats – Child should be over 40 pounds
- Front seating – Over 6 years and 60 pounds
Never put any child seat in a vehicle’s front seat if there is an active front airbag. Children must be in child restraints until they are 7 years old and 60 pounds
The West NewburyPolice Department is committed to child safety and will be conducting Child Safety Seat Inspections and clinics. For a schedule of dates and times please check back at this page.
Our CPS technicians do regular child safety seat inspections at the following scheduled times:
Any day of the week with an appointment.
You may also contact one of the West Newbury Police’s “Child Passenger Seat Technicians” at 978-363-1212
- Officer Michael Dwyer
- Dispatcher Barbara Bilo
Please call ask for one of the above Officers to request information.
If you are going to attend one of the safety seat clinics or are requesting a new installation / inspection, please be sure that you bring both the Child Seat manual and your vehicle owner’s manual. Having both of these items is essential for proper inspection and or installation. Please be sure to have the seats unpacked from any boxes and assembled in accordance with the owner’s manual and be sure to have read the owner’s manual to ensure proper understanding of its usage prior to arrival.
The West Newbury Police Department was awarded a Child Passenger Safety Equipment Grant that allows the department to provide a limited number of child safety seats free of charge to residents who have a financial need.
Child Restraint Tips
Airbags are deadly for infants
- An airbag inflates with an explosive force in a split second. It will do so even in a low-speed collision.
- A rear facing child restraint is so close to the airbag compartment that it gets in the way of the inflating bag. The bag hits the back of the child restraint with tremendous force. This violent blow is transmitted to the infants head and will cause a fatal or catastrophic injury.
*** Please be sure to read your vehicle’s owner’s manual for more information about airbags and children. ***
Older children are also at risk:
- If it is necessary for an older child to ride in the front seat that has an airbag, take these precautions:
- Move the vehicle seat as far back as it will go.
- Make sure that the child is restrained correctly.
- Do not allow him/her to reach for radio controls or to bend down to retrieve something from the floor.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends that children ride in the back seat until age 13.
Some “DO NOTS” of Child Safety
- DO NOT use a booster seat with only a lap belt.
- DO NOT put a shoulder belt under the child’s arm.
- DO NOT place a child forward facing until age one (1)and at least 20 pounds.
- DO NOT let children ride unrestrained. It is unsafe at any age.
- DO NOT let children ride in the bed of a pickup truck.
- DO NOT hold a child on your lap in a car.
- DO NOT put a baby in a front seat with an airbag.
Children at RISK!
Motor vehicle crashes cause more deaths and injuries than all childhood diseases combined. Every year, some 600 children under age five are killed while riding in automobiles. Tens of thousands are injured. Many injuries leave children physically and/or mentally disabled for life.
Motor vehicle crashes are also the leading cause of death and injury among older children, teenagers and young adults.
Buckle them up – It’s the law
In order to prevent these tragedies, all 50 states and every province in Canada have laws requiring children to ride in motor vehicles secured in safety seats. Older children must use safety belts.
Additional Child Safety Seat Links
NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
Massachusetts Safe Kids Program
https://www.mass.gov/car-seat-safety
National Safe Kids Program
“Tween” Traffic Safety
Teen Drivers (National Safety Council)
