Hot Car Letter to Congress Members
TAKE ACTION: Move the Hot Car Final Rule Forward ASAP!
The Federal Hot Car rule, requiring available and affordable technology in all new cars to stop hot car deaths has unacceptably been delayed, missing the critical deadline mandated by Congress in bipartisan legislation, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
We need YOUR help to urge agency decision makers and our Members of Congress to take action immediately. We can’t afford any more delays – too many lives are at stake. Below are two ways you can help us move this rulemaking forward that will take only a minute of your time.
Background Info:
Congress directed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to promulgate a federal safety standard by November 2023. An initial important step in the rulemaking process is issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). It was scheduled to be issued in December 2022. NHTSA delayed action and postponed the proposed rule to August 2023. Now we have learned that once again, the agency is delaying action until November 2024 -- a year past the deadline for issuing the final standard.
1 - Contact Your Members of Congress:
Go to https://democracy.io/#!/
Enter your address
Copy the sample letter (below) into the form (please personalize your message if you wish)
2 - Contact Government Officials:
Please email the following leaders via their email addresses provided below.
Polly Trottenberg, Deputy Secretary, The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
polly.trottenberg@dot.gov,
Scott Goldstein, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, DOT
Scott.Goldstein@dot.gov
Sophie Shulman, Acting Administrator, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Sophie.Shulman@dot.gov
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear ____,
I am writing to ask for your assistance to urge the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to take immediate action to prevent deaths and lifelong injuries resulting from children being trapped in hot cars.
As you are aware, Congress included in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, Pub. L. 117-58) enacted in 2022, a mandate directing NHTSA to issue a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that will require all new passenger motor vehicles to be equipped with technology to prevent hot car tragedies. In total disregard of the Congressionally mandated deadline of November, 2023, the NHTSA has failed to issue the hot car final rule and has yet to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).
We know that children will undoubtedly pay for these unacceptable and unnecessary delays with their lives. Families will be destroyed. This does not have to happen.
Since 1990, more than 1,083 children have died in hot car incidents and at least another 7,500 survived with varying types and severities of injuries, according to data collected by Kids and Car Safety. Additionally, hundreds of companion animals die in hot cars every year.
The tragedy of a child or companion animal dying in a hot car is entirely preventable. Yet, auto manufacturers, with limited exceptions, are not putting comprehensive occupant detection and alert systems into cars as standard equipment even though the technology is available and affordable. Additionally, the aftermarket lacks effective solutions for families to safeguard their children from this deadly danger. The need for a safety standard is overdue and urgent. Children are depending on us to protect them.
The NHTSA and the DOT must not defer, delay, or dilute this lifesaving rulemaking any further. Please take action now to ensure that NHTSA and the DOT to complete and issue a comprehensive safety standard immediately.
Without technology to detect occupants trapped in hot cars, innocent children and companion animals will continue to die and be injured in totally preventable tragedies.
Thank you very much for your commitment to the safety and security of America’s children.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
CONTACT INFO
