Posted at 10:10 p.m., Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Advocates hail passage of major child auto safety bill
Advertiser Staff
Safety advocates today praised the passage of a child auto safety measure by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in Washington, D.C.Janette Fennell, president of KIDS AND CARS, said the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Act of 2007 (HR 1216) addresses three causes of preventable injuries and fatalities to young children in and around motor vehicles: getting caught in an automatically closing power window, being struck by a backing vehicle because of an unacceptable blindzone, and placing a vehicle in gear that results in an uncontrolled roll away without having to depress the brake.
The legislation directs the U.S. Department of Transportation to issue new safety standards within specific time periods that will lead to the installation of safety technologies as standard equipment in all vehicles, Fennell said in a news release.
The safety technologies are already available as standard equipment, upgrades or optional equipment in many models of vehicles, said Fennell.
The bill also requires the department to establish a database of noncrash incidents and develop a program to provide the public with safety information regarding non-traffic dangers to young children.
Fennell said since 2000, over 1,350 children have died in non-traffic incidents with 227 killed in 2007. Four hundred seventy-four children were killed in backovers from 2002-2006 as compared to 128 from 1997-2001, according to KIDS AND CARS tracking.
Backovers now account for over half of all non-traffic fatalities involving children, said Fennell.
In Hawai'i, backovers have claimed the lives of three children and two elderly adults in 2007: Teysia Aku, 2, and Greta Tanonaka, 72, on O'ahu; Maylani Piper-Caravalho, 1, and Kahea Smith, 1, on the Big Island, and Alepia Motilla, 80, on Kaua'i.
