MassPINN Activities
The Prevent Injuries Now! Network is advocating for your safety. Below is a summary of our policy and legislative priorities.
ATVs – The MassPINN Coalition supports banning the sale to or use of four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles by children under the age of sixteen. The same reasoning that children under sixteen aren’t legally allowed to drive cars or even jet skis applies to ATVs – kids lack the strength, coordination, and judgment skills needed to safely operate these machines.
Teen Driving - Our members are actively involved in implementing the Junior Operators’ law, and in educating parents and teenagers about the requirements of that law. In addition, we will soon be unveiling a social marketing campaign aimed at teenage boys, reminding them to “Buckle up NOW!”
Seat belts - MassPINN supports efforts to bring a Primary Enforcement law to Massachusetts. Current state law does not allow motorists to be stopped by police for not wearing a seat belt, rendering the law ineffective and accounting for our state’s last place standing in seat belt compliance across the country.
Child Passenger Safety - MassPINN is working with our partners to train more technicians in child passenger seat installation, and to make these services more readily available to the public. Call our toll-free information line at 617-227-7233 with any questions about car seat safety. MassPINN members wereinstrumental in getting the Booster Seat bill passed in 2008. Includes information on the new MA Booster Seat law.
Fire and Burn Prevention – MassPINN coalition members were instrumental in getting mandatory carbon monoxide detectors required for all dwellings in Massachusetts, and for requiring all cigarettes sold in our state to be classified as fire-safe. We support continued education and resources for fire prevention programs.
Poison Control - MassPINN members successfully lobbied for a $350,000 appropriation for the state’s poison control center in the Legislature’s Fiscal Year 2008 budget. We are working to retain those funds in FY 2009, in the face of rising rates of death and injury attributable to poisonings.
Falls Prevention – Preventing Falls in older adults, our Falls Prevention Coalition is one of the largest and most active in the nation. Our goal is to keep adults safe and independent into their sunset years.