Congressional Bill Introduced for Back-Seat Child-Reminders.
06-15-17, 07:29 PM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Congressional Bill Introduced for Back-Seat Child-Reminders.
Normally, I am opposed to more Federal Safety-Nannie legislation (IMO, in general, we already have too many of these nannies in new cars)....but I can agree with this one, at least to an extent. Too many innocent kids and pets are injured, killed, or suffer the effects of heat-stroke because too many absent-minded parents or guardians drive around with their heads up their a**es, probably texting or gabbing on cell-phones, and then forget and walk off with kids in the back seat, parked in the sun, with the windows up. Or, if not, the often-given excuse is "Oh....I was just going inside for a minute or two....coming right back".....and then they spend a half hour or a whole hour, and come back out to devastating results.
IMO, there is little or no excuse for this....if you are going to be a parent, your kids, especially with their safety, come first, not your cell-phones or social-media (or even posting on Car Chat LOL).......Ditto for your pets, who are entrusted to your care. Sadly, however, these tragic events continue, despite widespread media exposure and repeated warnings. So, three Members of Congress (two Democrats and one Republican) have introduced a bill to make Back-Seat-Reminders standard in new vehicles. As of 2017, the Buick Lacrosse already has a reminder standard, which appears on the dash as you are ready to exit the vehicle when shutting things down. (and it would, of course, make even more sense in minivans, which are notorious for ferrying kids around in the rear seats).
Now, of course, this requirement isn't a Be-All / End-All magic solution to the problem...one can still choose to ignore it on the lame excuse that he or she will only be gone for a couple of minutes (and delay getting back)....but, if they do, it will make it much more difficult for them to claim that they were unaware of the kid or pet in back, or just plain forgot.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...p-this-horror/
More than 700 young children have died in hot cars since 1998. The news accounts of these incidents are gut-wrenching, describing helpless toddlers and infants trapped inside scorching vehicles that turn into death chambers. The parents, upon discovering their children, are devastated.
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) wants to put an end to these traumas.
“Anybody who has kids looks at this as a complete tragedy that doesn’t need to happen,” Ryan said in an interview with the Capital Weather Gang. “There’s no reason we can’t have a quick fix. Every year we wait we lose more and more lives.”
On June 7, Ryan introduced the HOT CARS Act of 2017, joined by co-sponsors Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).
If the bill passes, the Transportation Department would require cars to come equipped with a system for alerting the driver if a child is left in the back seat after the car is turned off.
Ryan said the technology already exists, and that General Motors has applied it in many of their 2017 and 2018 models. He said the cost of implementation of this technology would be “very, very small” for automakers.
“Consider the cost of not doing it,” Ryan said. “When you spread the cost across the industry, it’s de minimis.”
Already in 2017, 12 children across the country have lost their lives in stifling vehicles.
When it’s 90 degrees outside, the temperature inside a vehicle can surge to a suffocating 133 in just an hour, according to climatologist Jan Null, an expert on vehicle heatstroke deaths.
(noheatstroke.org)In the majority (54 percent) of hot cars deaths, caregivers simply forget their children are in the back seat, according to a database Null maintains.
Often this forgetfulness is triggered by a change in routine, lack of sleep or some distraction, according to David Diamond, a professor of psychology at University of South Florida. Caregivers should not be blamed for what is essentially a catastrophic breakdown in their memory and thought process, he said.
“[T]hese children were not forgotten by parents that were reckless with regard to care for their children,” Diamond said at a news event announcing the bill June 7. “This phenomenon must be explained from a brain science perspective, not one that blames parents for being negligent.”
Diamond, Ryan and other advocates for the bill say technology can help overcome the lapse in mental awareness
More than 20 organizations have expressed support for the bill, led by the nonprofit groups Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and KidsAndCars.org.
“For the sake of the children and their families, we must pass this bill into law,” said Janette Fennell, KidsAndCars.org president, at the June 7 event. “Car companies must step up to protect their most vulnerable passengers. It will take technology to prevent these unthinkable tragedies.”
Null said that he supports the bill and that “every life saved is wonderful,” but that it is not a “panacea” that will instantly prevent all child heatstroke deaths. Forty-six percent of hot car deaths are not due to forgetfulness, according to Null. They occur when caregivers purposefully leave their kids in hot cars (17 percent of the time), unaware of the risks, and when kids lock themselves inside cars while playing (28 percent of the time), and cannot escape.
Furthermore, Null notes on his website that it will take more than 15 years before the majority of the nation’s vehicle fleet possesses the technology proposed in the bill. So he expects some hot car deaths to continue and stresses the importance of educating caregivers about the problem.
On his website, Null features a set of safety recommendation for caregivers, leading with: “Parents and other caregivers need to be educated that a vehicle is not a babysitter or play area … but it can easily become tragedy. NEVER LEAVE A CHILD UNATTENDED IN A VEHICLE. NOT EVEN FOR A MINUTE!”
Ryan said he’s hopeful that he and his colleagues can get the bill pushed through the House and noted that some of the supporting organizations are working on a Senate version. If the legislation passes both houses, he thinks “it is something the administration would support.”
Additional reading
Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?
From July, 2016: 16 children have died in hot cars this year. This needs to stop.
Meteorologist bakes inside hot car for 30 minutes (VIDEO)
IMO, there is little or no excuse for this....if you are going to be a parent, your kids, especially with their safety, come first, not your cell-phones or social-media (or even posting on Car Chat LOL).......Ditto for your pets, who are entrusted to your care. Sadly, however, these tragic events continue, despite widespread media exposure and repeated warnings. So, three Members of Congress (two Democrats and one Republican) have introduced a bill to make Back-Seat-Reminders standard in new vehicles. As of 2017, the Buick Lacrosse already has a reminder standard, which appears on the dash as you are ready to exit the vehicle when shutting things down. (and it would, of course, make even more sense in minivans, which are notorious for ferrying kids around in the rear seats).
Now, of course, this requirement isn't a Be-All / End-All magic solution to the problem...one can still choose to ignore it on the lame excuse that he or she will only be gone for a couple of minutes (and delay getting back)....but, if they do, it will make it much more difficult for them to claim that they were unaware of the kid or pet in back, or just plain forgot.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...p-this-horror/
More than 700 young children have died in hot cars since 1998. The news accounts of these incidents are gut-wrenching, describing helpless toddlers and infants trapped inside scorching vehicles that turn into death chambers. The parents, upon discovering their children, are devastated.
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) wants to put an end to these traumas.
“Anybody who has kids looks at this as a complete tragedy that doesn’t need to happen,” Ryan said in an interview with the Capital Weather Gang. “There’s no reason we can’t have a quick fix. Every year we wait we lose more and more lives.”
On June 7, Ryan introduced the HOT CARS Act of 2017, joined by co-sponsors Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).
If the bill passes, the Transportation Department would require cars to come equipped with a system for alerting the driver if a child is left in the back seat after the car is turned off.
Ryan said the technology already exists, and that General Motors has applied it in many of their 2017 and 2018 models. He said the cost of implementation of this technology would be “very, very small” for automakers.
“Consider the cost of not doing it,” Ryan said. “When you spread the cost across the industry, it’s de minimis.”
Already in 2017, 12 children across the country have lost their lives in stifling vehicles.
When it’s 90 degrees outside, the temperature inside a vehicle can surge to a suffocating 133 in just an hour, according to climatologist Jan Null, an expert on vehicle heatstroke deaths.
(noheatstroke.org)In the majority (54 percent) of hot cars deaths, caregivers simply forget their children are in the back seat, according to a database Null maintains.
Often this forgetfulness is triggered by a change in routine, lack of sleep or some distraction, according to David Diamond, a professor of psychology at University of South Florida. Caregivers should not be blamed for what is essentially a catastrophic breakdown in their memory and thought process, he said.
“[T]hese children were not forgotten by parents that were reckless with regard to care for their children,” Diamond said at a news event announcing the bill June 7. “This phenomenon must be explained from a brain science perspective, not one that blames parents for being negligent.”
Diamond, Ryan and other advocates for the bill say technology can help overcome the lapse in mental awareness
More than 20 organizations have expressed support for the bill, led by the nonprofit groups Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and KidsAndCars.org.
“For the sake of the children and their families, we must pass this bill into law,” said Janette Fennell, KidsAndCars.org president, at the June 7 event. “Car companies must step up to protect their most vulnerable passengers. It will take technology to prevent these unthinkable tragedies.”
Null said that he supports the bill and that “every life saved is wonderful,” but that it is not a “panacea” that will instantly prevent all child heatstroke deaths. Forty-six percent of hot car deaths are not due to forgetfulness, according to Null. They occur when caregivers purposefully leave their kids in hot cars (17 percent of the time), unaware of the risks, and when kids lock themselves inside cars while playing (28 percent of the time), and cannot escape.
Furthermore, Null notes on his website that it will take more than 15 years before the majority of the nation’s vehicle fleet possesses the technology proposed in the bill. So he expects some hot car deaths to continue and stresses the importance of educating caregivers about the problem.
On his website, Null features a set of safety recommendation for caregivers, leading with: “Parents and other caregivers need to be educated that a vehicle is not a babysitter or play area … but it can easily become tragedy. NEVER LEAVE A CHILD UNATTENDED IN A VEHICLE. NOT EVEN FOR A MINUTE!”
Ryan said he’s hopeful that he and his colleagues can get the bill pushed through the House and noted that some of the supporting organizations are working on a Senate version. If the legislation passes both houses, he thinks “it is something the administration would support.”
Additional reading
Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?
From July, 2016: 16 children have died in hot cars this year. This needs to stop.
Meteorologist bakes inside hot car for 30 minutes (VIDEO)
Last edited by mmarshall; 06-15-17 at 07:48 PM.
06-16-17, 07:26 AM
#2
Super Moderator
Unless the alert is based on a weight sensor and is only triggered when there's actually someone in the backseat, this will be of limited/no value. If it activates every time the car shuts off as the picture above suggests might be the case, it will become just another annoyance to be tuned out as a matter of habit.
06-16-17, 08:21 AM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
Unless the alert is based on a weight sensor and is only triggered when there's actually someone in the backseat, this will be of limited/no value. If it activates every time the car shuts off as the picture above suggests might be the case, it will become just another annoyance to be tuned out as a matter of habit.
If they do have such a reminder light up, so it is not ignored, make sure there is an annoying high pitched squeal-shriek-bong-dong thingy, that does not go off until a 26 digit code containing upper and lower case characters, a number, and special character is entered to acknowledge...upon 3 erroneous entries of said code, the car is disabled, all doors unlock, windows and sunroof open, and it costs $450 to enable the car, with a $1000 fine going to the commonwealth....
06-16-17, 10:06 AM
#6
All these dings and alerts that a car does won't do much to fix being stupid, but it's a start.
True, but then they won't be able to text and update their fakebook when they're driving
So now it's back to relying their car or other means to remind them to take their kids out of their car.
So now it's back to relying their car or other means to remind them to take their kids out of their car.
06-16-17, 10:20 AM
#7
Lexus Fanatic
All these dings and alerts that a car does won't do much to fix being stupid, but it's a start.
True, but then they won't be able to text and update their fakebook when they're driving
So now it's back to relying their car or other means to remind them to take their kids out of their car.
True, but then they won't be able to text and update their fakebook when they're driving
So now it's back to relying their car or other means to remind them to take their kids out of their car.
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06-16-17, 11:43 AM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
Unless the alert is based on a weight sensor and is only triggered when there's actually someone in the backseat, this will be of limited/no value. If it activates every time the car shuts off as the picture above suggests might be the case, it will become just another annoyance to be tuned out as a matter of habit.
Part of this increase in "absent mindedness" is not really linked to being irresponsible with cell phones, but cell phones are part of what is causing this shift in our population. life is WAY more harried now than it used to be, and a big reason for this is that people are accustomed to being totally tied in, people expect immediate responses to things, it can seem like stuff is being thrown at you from all different directions. My phone must "bing" every 40 seconds during a workday. I am constantly getting emails and texts and calls etc for work. Even if you are ignoring those notifications knowing they are there still makes you crazy. Can't turn them off, because again my clients want immediate responses and not being able to respond to them immediately will cost me money in this day and age.
Its one of those things where I could actually see how a parent could leave their kid in their car accidentally like this...which is really scary.
06-16-17, 07:11 PM
#10
Lexus Champion
I agree, has to be somehow linked to use of a carseat. Wouldn't be hard to implement that, tie it to use of the latch anchors or something...or a weight sensor like you said.
Part of this increase in "absent mindedness" is not really linked to being irresponsible with cell phones, but cell phones are part of what is causing this shift in our population. life is WAY more harried now than it used to be, and a big reason for this is that people are accustomed to being totally tied in, people expect immediate responses to things, it can seem like stuff is being thrown at you from all different directions. My phone must "bing" every 40 seconds during a workday. I am constantly getting emails and texts and calls etc for work. Even if you are ignoring those notifications knowing they are there still makes you crazy. Can't turn them off, because again my clients want immediate responses and not being able to respond to them immediately will cost me money in this day and age.
Its one of those things where I could actually see how a parent could leave their kid in their car accidentally like this...which is really scary.
Part of this increase in "absent mindedness" is not really linked to being irresponsible with cell phones, but cell phones are part of what is causing this shift in our population. life is WAY more harried now than it used to be, and a big reason for this is that people are accustomed to being totally tied in, people expect immediate responses to things, it can seem like stuff is being thrown at you from all different directions. My phone must "bing" every 40 seconds during a workday. I am constantly getting emails and texts and calls etc for work. Even if you are ignoring those notifications knowing they are there still makes you crazy. Can't turn them off, because again my clients want immediate responses and not being able to respond to them immediately will cost me money in this day and age.
Its one of those things where I could actually see how a parent could leave their kid in their car accidentally like this...which is really scary.
06-16-17, 08:02 PM
#12
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by dseag2
I am connected 24/7 as well, but it is my choice to disconnect while driving. I'm old school, but I don't get this obsession with having to read every text and email that comes in every minute. No, I'm not in the real estate business like you are, but I have internal and external customers and nothing is so earth-shattering that I can't drive for 30 minutes without responding.
06-17-17, 04:51 AM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
That's not allowed in Ontario, yet Toronto is booming. I think we have a different mindset. Imagine we have to respond at red lights or we could lose money...I remember a time not that long ago when people would be apologetic calling off hours, or say they'd get you bavpck if they knew you were driving. I did a 45 min conf call last week in the car. Didnt prefer it, would have rather pulled over, but couldnt lose that time.
06-17-17, 05:21 AM
#14
Lexus Fanatic
It's not allowed here, but it is what it is. When you drive around in a car all day as part of your work, and yet you also have to talk to people and reply to emails and receive emails and texts and review them and respond...short of hiring somebody to drive you around what are you supposed to do?
06-17-17, 07:07 PM
#15
Lexus Champion
It's not allowed here, but it is what it is. When you drive around in a car all day as part of your work, and yet you also have to talk to people and reply to emails and receive emails and texts and review them and respond...short of hiring somebody to drive you around what are you supposed to do?