FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2020


CONTACTS:
Janette Fennell , President and Founder, KidsAndCars.org,
Janette@KidsAndCars.org / 415-336-9279 (C)

Amber Rollins , Director, KidsAndCars.org,
Amber@KidsAndCars.org / 913-205-6973 (C)
Members of Congress, Safety Advocates and Grieving Parents Call for Technology Solutions to End Hot Car Tragedies as Fatalities Continue
Tech Companies Demonstrated Vehicle Occupant Detection Technology to Prevent Child Hot Car Deaths
Philadelphia, PA - KidsAndCars.org hosted an international virtual press conference and Congressional briefing today to demonstrate how available technology can prevent hot car deaths and injuries.

“We simply cannot let another summer pass without making the life-saving and desperately needed technology a part of the solution to save the lives of innocent babies. Every day that we delay in advancing these cost-effective detection technologies means children are at risk of needlessly dying.” said Janette Fennell, president of KidsAndCars.org.

On July 1 st , the Hot Cars Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2). The bill calls for a safety standard requiring technology in all new vehicles to detect the presence of a child and provide audio and visual warnings both inside and outside the vehicle.

Today’s virtual event confirmed that this type of technology is readily available and affordable by highlighting systems from Vayyar™ Imaging , Aptiv , Caaresys™ and IEE Sensing Inc. All of the systems featured are able to detect the presence of a child (or other occupant) inside a vehicle whether they were left or got in on their own and provide alerts both inside and outside the vehicle. KidsAndCars.org is extremely grateful for their commitment to the safety of children.

Event speakers addressed major concerns with the weak and unenforceable ‘ voluntary agreement ’ announced by automakers last year and the need to enact the Hot Cars Act requiring a safety standard to be issued.

The auto industry’s track record to act voluntarily is dismal at best. For example, in 2001 General Motors announced with much fanfare that they were going to install occupant detection technology in GM vehicles by 2004 to address hot car deaths. That never happened.

Jenny Stanley, KidsAndCars.org parent advocate and mother of Sydney, 6, spoke of her heartbreak when her daughter died after getting into their 2008 Buick Enclave, a General Motors SUV. “If GM had followed through with their commitment to include detection technology in their vehicles by 2004, my daughter would still be alive today. It’s nearly 20 years later and they still have not followed through with their commitment to install detection technology” Ms. Stanley said.

In addition to the voluntary agreement being completely unenforceable, the auto industry’s also sets an unbelievably low bar for the technology added to vehicles.

Dr. Shaun Kildare, Senior Director of Research at Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety said, “The voluntary agreement notes that a system must ‘ consider the potential  presence’ of an occupant and provide an alert when there is ‘ the potential  presence’ of an occupant (emphasis added). This allows for technology which does not detect, but rather essentially guesses whether there may be a child left in a vehicle.” He continued, “You wouldn’t want your brakes to  potentially  work when you press them.”
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) , Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Sponsor of the Hot Cars Act said, “We have the technology to prevent this kind of heartbreak, we have an obligation to use it. My heart goes out to whoever might be affected by these tragedies, but my message goes to the manufacturers. The Hot Cars Act that I’ve introduced would make mandatory a moral obligation that you have to do the right thing and all of us should raise the alarm and support this legislation. 

U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) , Chair, Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and a sponsor of the Hot Cars Act passionately said, “It is unforgivable when we lose our children in something that we can prevent. There are technologies right now to prevent these hot car deaths.” She continued, “I am happy to say that Hot Cars legislation passed as part of the infrastructure bill (HR 2) from the House of Representatives. And now the question is, are we going to get it passed by the Senate? Are we going to get it signed by the President so no more children needlessly die in hot cars?”

KidsAndCars.org released in-depth analysis of U.S. hot car deaths containing statistics and charts about the trends KidsAndCars.org has captured over the past 30 years. Additionally, KidsAndCars.org provided information about hot car deaths documented by the organization in 56 countries worldwide . 

For more information on child hot car deaths, please visit the Hot Cars Act page .

Below is a list of materials that were referred to during the event and included in the press kit from the event.










Tech Companies:


Speaker Statements:

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KidsAndCars.org , a 501 (c)(3) national nonprofit is dedicated to saving the lives of children and pets in and around motor vehicles.