Blacktown City Council - Media Release -Child Car Seat Safety A Top Priority

26 April 2019

Blacktown City Council is at the forefront of combating

illegally restrained child car seats and has already checked 

more than 380 car seats in 2019.

Blacktown City Mayor Stephen Bali said Council’s car seat 

program is a great initiative for the community.

“I cannot stress the importance of making use of this free 

service,” Mayor Bali said.

“The number of checked car seats is growing but there is still 

a long way to go.

“A simple stop in your day to double check your car seat is 

fitted properly will go a very long way in saving a life.”

NSW Police have raised concerns about the number of 

infringement notices that have been issued in the Blacktown 

area for children who are either illegally restrained in a car 

seat or who don’t have a car seat at all. 

To help raise awareness in the community, Council has 

teamed up with police from the Mt Druitt Highway Patrol to 

promote the correct use of car seats.

Council holds free car seat checking days for Blacktown 

residents every 6 weeks throughout the year.

Sergeant Greg Donaldson from Mount Druitt Highway Patrol 

said it’s easier to attend a free car seat checking day than 

risking a child’s life and copping a $300 fine.

“The ramifications of not restraining children properly can be 

fatal.  It is for this reason that the Highway Patrol Police 

attached to Mt Druitt PAC have a very strict enforcement 

policy with all seatbelt offences. There are no excuses.”

Karen Preston, a Blacktown grandmother to her seventh 

grandchild was relieved to have a car seat* professionally 

installed for the first time.

“I thought I had done it properly but now I can be 100% 

confident in the seat installation.”

Car seat checking day

When: Wednesday, 22 May

Time: 8:30 am - 1:30 pm

Where: The Ponds Shopping Centre in the underground 

carpark

For more information contact our Road Safety Officer on 

9839 6363 or email roady.safety@blacktown.nsw.gov.au

*Blacktown City Council and Mt Druitt Police thank Kmart at 

Mt Druitt for the donation of the car seat and to Complete 

Car Care in Seven Hills for the installation.

Karen Preston (right) learns how to restrain a car seat with an Authorised Checker.

Karen Preston, Blacktown
City Council’s Road Safety Officer Fiona Frost and Sergeant Greg Donaldson with a correctly restrained car seat.

Please Ensure That Your Car Has Got Correct Safety Air Bags - Roam

Recall issued for at-risk vehicles

Dear John, Vehicles fitted with defective airbags manufactured by Takata are now subject to a major recall notice recently issued by the Australian Government. The defective Takata airbags pose an extreme safety risk for drivers and passengers and have the potential to cause serious injury or even death. Your safety is important to us, which is why we are contacting you to ensure you’re aware of this issue and know what to do if you’re impacted. Which vehicles are impacted? The recall affects around 2.3 million vehicles across a number of makes, models and years. Impacted vehicle types include BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ferrari, Ford, Honda, Jeep, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peformax, Subaru, Toyota and some motorcycles. To see if your specific vehicle make and model is on the current recall list, go to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s Product Safety Australia Takata airbag recall page, which is continually being updated as more information becomes available. What do I do? We encourage you to check the current recall list to see if your car, motorcycle or truck is affected and take the relevant advice and action offered by Product Safety Australia. This may include booking an immediate airbag replacement with your dealer or manufacturer or, in the event of ‘alpha’ airbags being identified, not driving the vehicle at all. Where do I go for more information? Please visit the Product Safety Australia Takata airbag recall web page for the most up to date information or view the official Government media release online. You can also subscribe to receive updates about future vehicle recalls via the Product Safety Australia website. If you have any questions about this recall, please contact your vehicle manufacturer directly. Kind regards, The Roam team