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Hot Cars - Latest News
'Hot Cars Act' would require rear seat passenger detection
There's a new bill working its way through Congress to help prevent children from dying inside hot vehicles in the U.S. If passed, it would require detection technology in every new vehicle. More than 100 kids have died inside hot cars over the past couple years in the U.S. Two of those happened in Ohio. Sgt. Ryan Purpura with Ohio State Highway Patrol says you should never leave a child in a hot car, even if you are just running inside for 10 seconds to get something that you left inside the house or a store. "When it's 95 degrees out and that vehicle is closed up, it heats up rapidly, very fast.
KidsAndCars.org says new technology can help prevent hot car deaths
As we move further into summer, there’s a push for technology to help prevent kids from dying in hot cars. The group KidsAndCars.org wants the auto industry to install technology that can detect the presence of a child to alert a driver that the child is still strapped in. And they want it to come standard in all vehicles. KidsAndCars.org used National Heatstroke Prevention Day as way to bring awareness to hot car deaths. The organization said after more than 20 years of public education, children are dying at record-breaking rates.Protecting Children: Preventing Deaths From Hot Cars
The Institute for Childhood Preparedness and Kids and Cars have teamed up to educate the public about the dangers of leaving children alone in hot cars. Last year we created a helpful flyer with heatstroke prevention facts and actionable tips if you see a child alone in a hot car. Unfortunately, there were 53 hot car deaths in 2019, and there have already been six hot car deaths in 2020. According to KidsandCars.org, over 940 children have died in hot cars nationwide since 1990. Even the best of parents or caregivers can unknowingly leave a sleeping baby in a car, and the result can be injury or even death.
Momentum for an Effort to Save Children From Sweltering Cars
There was reason for optimism last June. The Hot Cars Act of 2019 appeared to be making some progress. The bill would require a device that could warn drivers and car owners of a child left behind in a car or one who had gotten into a parked car. For Janette Fennell of KidsAndCars.org, who has championed such legislation for decades, the bill was an opportunity to curb an epidemic of childhood hyperthermia deaths. Each year, dozens of children die of heatstroke in cars.
Charges against Oklahoma father dropped after 2 children die in hot car
The father of two children who died in a hot truck over the weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been released from custody after investigators discovered new evidence about how the children gained access to the vehicle, according to ABC 8 in Tulsa.