MEDIA ADVISORY
 
CONTACT
Amber Rollins, director, Kids and Car Safety, 913-205-6973
Janette Fennell, president & founder, Kids and Car Safety, 415-336-9279
Pete Daniels, Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety, 301-442-2249
Members of Congress, Kids and Car Safety, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, and Families Affected by Hot Car Deaths and Injuries Urge U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to Quickly Advance the Child Protection “Hot Cars” Mandate in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
Over 1,000 children have died from heatstroke in hot cars since 1990 and at least another 7,300 survived with varying types and severity of injuries. With temperatures rising as summer quickly approaches, the risk is even greater. Cost-effective safety solutions are readily available that can reduce these grim numbers. In preparation for National Heatstroke Prevention Day on May 1st, we must intensify our efforts and leverage the promise of safety technology to prevent these predictable tragedies.

WHEN: Thursday, April 28, 2022 at 11:00 am EST

WHERE: This virtual news conference will be live streamed and recorded on Zoom. Participants MUST register for the event ahead of time at the link below.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Photo courtesy of Vayyar
WHAT: VIRTUAL NEWS CONFERENCE
Safety advocates and parents of children who have died in hot vehicles will join U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9th) along with U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) (invited) to advocate for new vehicles to be equipped with inexpensive, existing technology that can detect the presence of a child inside the passenger compartment of a car and alert the driver and/or others. The differences between simple rear seat reminder systems and effective occupant detection systems will be discussed. 
 
The Biden Administration and the auto industry must meet this moment by ensuring that significant strides are being made in advancing safety. The only way to comprehensively solve this problem is a safety standard requiring DETECTION + ALERT technology within the entire passenger compartment of new vehicles.
Kids and Car Safety will release and make available to media outlets new heatstroke PSA safety videos generously funded by State Farm Insurance during the press event.

WHO:
U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9), Chair, U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT); (invited), Chair, U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security
Dr. David Diamond, Professor of Psychology, Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Director, Neuroscience Collaborative Program, University of South Florida
Janette Fennell, President, Kids and Car Safety
Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
Dikeisha Whitlock-Pryer, Mother of RJ Pryer of Houston, TX who died in a daycare bus
Amber Rollins, Director, Kids and Car Safety, representing the Cestia family of New Iberia, LA whose son Thomas died in 2021 in a 2020 GMC Sierra truck with a rear seat reminder system installed
Families affected by hot car incidents available for interviews upon request.

Dr. Shaun Kildare, Senior Director of Research, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety will be available for engineering or technical questions.

**NOTE: Q&A during this event will be for media only**


Kids and Car Safety is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping young children and pets safe in and around vehicles.

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is an alliance of consumer, medical, public health, law enforcement, and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to improve road safety in the U.S. Advocates’ mission is the adoption of federal and state laws, policies and programs that prevent motor vehicle crashes, save lives, reduce injuries, and contain costs.
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