CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Two local shipping companies – Crowley on St. Thomas, and Flemings
Transport on St. Croix – are teaming up with the Virgin Islands Police Department (VIPD) and the V.I. Office of Highway Safety (VIOHS) in providing no cost child car safety restraints to child
passengers across the territory.
Through the VIOHS Occupant Protection Program’s Car Seat Loaner Program, car seats and
booster seats are provided to child passengers in need at no cost. However, shipping for these
bulky devices can be cost prohibitive.
Responding to this urgent community need, shipping companies, Crowley and Flemings Transport, answered the agency’s request for sponsorship of shipping and clearance fees for these lifesaving devices.
“When we were approached and advised of the exorbitant costs of shipping these car seats to the Virgin Islands, we eagerly agreed to cover all shipping costs,” explained Ruby Fleming of Flemings’ Transport. “These car seats which are used to safely transport infants and toddlers are an important
function of public safety. Economic obstacles should not be the determining factor as to
whether an infant or toddler is safe on our roads.”
Flemings’ Transport welcomed the opportunity to assist VIOHS and encourages others to do the same.
“There’s no better investment in our communities than supporting the safety of our children,”
said Crowley’s Kishma Vincent, director of cargo operations for the Virgin Islands.
“Crowley proudly partnered with the Virgin Islands Police Department and the Office of
Highway Safety to help ensure that car seats can be provided to protect the safety of people’s
most precious cargo – our infants and kids.”
“We are grateful for the generosity and responsiveness of our community partners, Crowley
and Flemings Transport,” beamed Police Commissioner Ray A. Martinez. “The savings
realized through their sponsorship will purchase additional seats, which are desperately
needed.”
According to data collected through observations conducted by VI Police Department’s
Traffic Safety Officers and local Child Passenger Safety Technicians, approximately 73 percent of
the territory’s child passengers are currently transported unrestrained or under restrained
(without appropriate child restraints).
This data is supported by the 2022 Annual Observational Rear Seat Survey that reported an at-risk rate of over 79 percent for children under age 12.
“Risks taken with child passengers can be observed every day,” VIOHS noted.