Booster seats will be distributed to families without boosters due to the Frederstiked Twin City Lions Club’s generosity of donating 30 booster seats to the V.I. Police Department and the V.I. Office of Highway Safety’s Occupant Protection Program, the agencies announced.
Beverly E. Smith, the organization’s president, was compelled to participate in the booster
drive. “When Ms. Gomes sent out her plea to the village for help in purchasing the seats, we had to respond,” expressed Smith. “We must work together to improve safety methods and knowledge in our community.”
Lion Club member Laverne Joseph and committee chair for Health and Youth, who initiated interest on the organization’s behalf, stated, “We felt that it was incumbent on us to step up and assist in the process of ensuring the safety of our children- our future generation.” To date, the drive has collected 395 seats, which are provided at no cost to caregivers with child passengers in need, according to the release
The booster seat drive was launched in December 2022 in response to local data, which
revealed that approximately 73 percent of the territory’s children between ages four and seven were being transported without appropriate safety restraints. For this population, wearing a seatbelt without a booster may result in ejection, increasing injury risks for child crash victims, the press release stated.
Booster seats elevate the child so that the vehicle’s seat belt fits securely. In the territory,
children are required to utilize a car or booster seat until age eight or up to 4’9” tall, the release stated.
For more information about child passenger safety in the territory or to contribute to the
booster seat drive, contact the Virgin Islands Office of Highway Safety through Director
O’Neal at daphne.oneal@vipd.vi.gov or Occupant Protection Planner/Coordinator Denise
Gomes at denise.gomes@vipd.vi.gov. You may also contact the office via telephone at 340-772-3025 or 340-473-7383.
