Parent opposes recent seatbelt enforcement
Published on March 3rd, 1999
STONEHAM, MA - At least one parent is up in arms about the Stoneham Police Department's newest initiative which is aimed at enforcing child seat belt laws.
In recent weeks, local officers have been stationed in front of the town's schools and have pulled over a number of vehicles, often ticketing parents for failing to buckle their children up.
"We want people to learn," Police Chief Eugene Passaro said of the procedure. "Little kids are out there without seat belts and that's how they get killed."
Passaro said the program was made possible through a grant from the National Highway Safety Council and, despite the objections of some parents, will continue to be implemented until the message is received. Letters were sent home to parents explaining the increased enforcement weeks ago, Passaro said, so the latest details should not have been a surprise.
"It's obvious that many parents didn't listen to the warning," he explained. "Parents have to pay more attention. We made it well known. It appears as though some parents just don't care enough about it.
"You just don't let that happen," he concluded.
The Police Department has been handing out $25 tickets to operators who fail to buckle up children under the age of 12 and for parents who fail to put toddlers in car seats.
The chief explained that he has been personally affected by his encounters with accident scenes in which children have been injured and perished due to their parents' negligence.
"You just don't let kids get into the car without a seat belt. I'm adamant about that. I am mad about it because it gives us (at police departments) a lot more work and it is terrible to have to see that type of thing," he said.
One parent who felt the monetary effects of the Police Department enforcement was Wayne Pollard, a Summer Street resident who received a $25 fine for failing to put his 8-year-old son in a seat belt on Monday.
Pollard contacted various town and state individuals to complain of the incident and, in a letter to Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting, said, "Some years ago, a Superior Court judge illegalized the use of roadblocks in Massachusetts, but obviously the Stoneham Police Department is not aware of this. Therefore, exercising my right to appeal, I will pursue this matter with extreme diligence. Once I confer with an attorney who specializes in civil rights violations, I will aggressively undertake a lawsuit, if able, against the town, and everyone involved in the decision to set up a roadblock."
According to Passaro, what Pollard encountered on Franklin Street Monday morning was not a roadblock. The officers were within their rights to pull over vehicles based upon the assumption of an infraction, he said.
Massachusetts General Law Chapter 90 Section 13A states, "This is a primary enforcement law. An officer may stop your car if one or more children are riding unrestrained. No other reason is needed."
"The laws have changed," Passaro said. "The big thing here is to tell parents to safeguard their kids."
In addition, parents should also be wearing seat belts themselves and setting a good example, he added.
"If you buckle up your kids, why not buckle up yourself. Who's going to take care of your kids if you're injured?
"It's just laziness. Wear your seat belts and live."
The chief said the officers in Pollard's case, who issued one citation for failing to buckle up his child, could have also imposed fines for failing to carry his license and for failing to wear a seat belt himself. As is common practice, he went on, the officers let him go on the other infractions, hoping that he got the message.
In his letter to Nutting, however, Pollard sent a message of his own.
"On a more personal note, it is wonderful to see that we have the money and the manpower to set up a roadblock aimed at parents taking their children to school, other than trying to deter real crime in Stoneham" he wrote. "Since there is obviously an abundance of funds, and the police are at a loss for crimes to solve, perhaps we should cut their budget at the next town meeting. After all, you may need the money to pay out a settlement to a very disgruntled citizen."
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