CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV)
Taking her cause to the nation's capitol after losing her daughter in a hot car death, a Lowcountry woman is heading to Washington to take a stand. Deona Bien is working to make sure no other parent has to feel that sorrow by bringing the Hot Car Act of 2017 to lawmakers.
"We're hoping that the auto manufacturers will be able to put safety reminders in our cars as reminders that we have precious cargo in the back," Bien said. Since her daughters death in 2004, she's become an advocate. "I lost my daughter Aslyn just a few days after her first birthday," she said. "Her sitter was running errands and inadvertently forgot that she was with her and left her in the back seat of the car." According to
www.kidsandcars.org, an average of 37 children die in hot cars per year. Bien says with our busy lives, it could happen to anyone. "What I'd like to reach are the parents that think this can't happen to them, because it can," she said. "It happened to me, it happened to other parents that were loving and caring." She's heading to Washington Tuesday to ring the alarm. "Right now we have alerts that we have a dead battery, need gas, or seat belts aren't buckled, but what's missing is that we have precious cargo in our cars." Deona says despite the heartache, Aslyn's memory serves as a constant reminder to persevere no matter where her journey takes her, even to the halls of Congress. "Two things you can do in life if something like this happens, you can choose to roll up in a ball and let the world pass you by or you can choose to be an advocate and try to prevent other children from suffering or families suffering that type of loss." Deona hopes placing alerts in cars will one day eliminate hot car deaths. On Wednesday she'll present the Hot Cars Act of 2017 at the Rayburn Foyer.
