New Legislation Step Forward In Preventing Child Vehicular Heatstroke
My mother was the librarian at the school I attended from Pre-K to 8th grade. It was actually pretty awesome. I rode to school with her every day and sometimes we wore matching sweaters (I’ve already texted her asking for pictures, hopefully coming soon). She also ran the summer camp program, so I spent my summers in the library until I was old enough to stay home by myself.
The school is in Topeka, KS, but some of the students lived in Lawrence, KS, (where I ended up going to college, Rock Chalk!) about 30 minutes away. These students took “The Lawrence Bus” to school, which looking back on it, was a large van. Things really seem bigger when you’re younger. “The Lawrence Bus” was one of the first things I thought about when I read about a new school bus safety law.
California Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed the “Paul Lee School Bus Safety Law” requiring school buses to be equipped with child check technology. The Law is named after a Whittier, California student with special needs who tragically passed away last year after being left on a school bus for many hours. The required technology generates an audible alarm when the ignition is turned off. The driver must walk to the rear of the bus to turn off the alarm, ensuring they will detect remaining children on the bus. California school bus contractors have 3 months to implement the technology. While this is a big step forward for safety technology, vehicles such as “The Lawrence Bus” or other non-traditional school buses wouldn’t be required to use the technology. It is also only a California law. Another bill aims to require this kind of technology in passenger vehicles.
Recently Tim Ryan (D-13th OH), Peter King (R-2nd NY) and Jan Schakowsky (D-9th IL) introduced the Helping Overcome Trauma for Children Alone in Rear Seats Act (HOT CARS Act of 2016, H.R. 6041). This bi-partisan act would require passenger vehicles to be equipped with technology to alert the driver that a passenger, most likely a child, remains in the rear seat. Reminder systems for headlights, doors, keys and seat belts already exist in many cars. We need this legislation. 2-year-old Angel Matute-Chavez lost his life a few days ago after being left in a hot van, bringing the total number of U.S child vehicular heatstroke in 2016 deaths to 33.
Earlier this summer, Rear View Safety introduced The Brilliant Backseat Reminder System. The Brilliant Backseat is designed from the ground up to remind drivers to take children, pets, or valuables out of the backseat of the car, and vehicles.
This kind of technology will hopefully soon be required in passenger vehicles under the HOT CARS Act. We need to protect all children from vehicular heatstroke, including those who take “The Lawrence Bus” and similar school transportation!
