For Immediate Release

Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Groveland Fire Department to Begin Offering Car Seat Installations

GROVELAND – Chief Robert Lay is pleased to announce that the Groveland Fire Department will now offer free child safety seat installations to residents.

The Groveland Fire Department is available to install car seats on Tuesday evenings from 7-9 p.m. or by appointment at Groveland Fire Headquarters, 181 Main St. Firefighters Brian Belfiore and Jeff Dalton recently completed training to become child seat safety technicians.

To request an appointment, please fill out the form on their website.

“Even as a small department with a limited budget, we are often able to expand services and offerings such as this to parents in our community,” Chief Lay said. “These days, families are constantly on the go. A properly installed car seat will greatly improve a child’s safety while traveling. We encourage all parents, babysitters and anyone else who may need a car seat in their vehicle to contact us for installation.”

The Massachusetts Child Passenger Safety Law requires that all children sit in a federally approved car seat or booster, which must be properly fastened and secured, until they are 8 years old or over 57 inches tall. It is recommended that children under the age of 13 ride in the back seat.

All infants and toddlers should be in rear-facing car seats until they reach the age of 2 years old, or the weight and height limit issued by the manufacturer. Toddlers and preschoolers should be placed in convertible and forward-facing seats equipped with a harness. Once school-aged children outgrow their forward-facing seats, they should sit in a booster until they are old enough to wear a seat belt.

According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, 75 percent of child safety seats are installed incorrectly, and motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of death and injury for all children.

Properly securing your child in an age and size appropriate car seat greatly lowers the risk of serious and fatal injuries. The Centers for Disease Control reports that:

• Car seats reduce the risk of death to infants by 71 percent, and to toddlers between ages 1 to 4 by 54 percent.
• Booster seats decrease the risk for serious injury by 45 percent for children 4 to 8 years old when compared with solely seat belt use.