A Traffic and Highway Patrol Command officer with NSW Police has taken it on himself to ensure the children of families in Sydney’s west are properly restrained in safe seating when in the car, launching an initiative that is not only saving lives but is being adopted by other communities in the State.
Mt Druitt’s Sergeant Greg Donaldson (pictured), said the idea came to him when he continued to encounter the same drivers with non-compliant and poorly fitted child seats, children not fastened into them correctly and in many cases, no child seat at all.
“I was finding that we were issuing tickets to the same people for this exact same traffic offence and I believed that more needed to be done to address the issue,” Sgt Donaldson said.
“It was not a case of these drivers deliberately putting their children at risk – they did not have the funds to purchase the most up-to-date child restraint seats and were instead buying all they could afford; second-hand seats that were not up to safety regulations or installed correctly,” he said.
“Now, with a fine on top of that, it was making it harder for them to afford a safe seat for their children.”
Sgt Donaldson said he resolved the issue by liaising with relevant stakeholders to source car seats to be provided free of charge to those who needed them.
“I began to work with local health clinics to help identify parents, particularly mums, who could benefit from having these car seats and training before the baby arrived,” he said.
“We would rather the child is properly secured from the moment they’re born rather than encounter them not properly restrained during a traffic stop.”
Sgt Donaldson said he had also arranged for installation as well as education sessions to teach drivers how to secure their children properly in the vehicle.
NSW Police said the program was now being trialled in the Dubbo region with a view to rolling it out across the State.
Commander of the Police’s Traffic and Highway Patrol, Assistant Commissioner Karen Webb, praised Sgt Donaldson for his great work.
