WASHINGTON 鈥� So far this year, 30 children have died from being left in cars on hot days, according to , and since 1990, over 800 children have died.
Auto safety advocates, as well as parents whose children have died in such tragedies, say it鈥檚 time for the auto industry to install technology that could alert drivers that a child is in the back seat.
鈥淭here is no reason, in this day and age, that we can鈥檛 solve this problem,鈥� said Miles Harrison, a Loudoun County, Virginia, parent whose own son, 21-month-old Chase, died in the family鈥檚 SUV.
The 鈥淗elping Overcome Trauma for Children Alone in Rear Seats (HOTCARS) Act,鈥� introduced in the Senate and House, would require establishing in two years a safety standard requiring an alert system in all new cars, said Jackie Gillan, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. The bill would also call for a study on how to retrofit existing cars with similar technology.
Gillan announced the group鈥檚 support for the HOTCARS Act on Monday, National Heat Stroke Prevention Day.
General Motors already has technology 鈥� in 18 of its 2017 car models 鈥� alerting the driver that a child is in the back seat.
The 鈥淩ear Seat Reminder鈥� technology doesn鈥檛 directly detect an item in a rear seat, according to GM. Instead, it alerts the driver that the rear door was opened or closed during or just before a trip, prompting the driver to look back and check to see if something has been left behind.
So why haven鈥檛 other automakers followed suit?
That鈥檚 tough to understand, said Harrison, who wonders if it鈥檚 the result of living in what he said is a litigious society. 鈥淪o if [carmakers] do come up with something and, God forbid, one time it doesn鈥檛 work, what happens?鈥� he asked.
As a result, Harrison said, car companies seem stuck in a bureaucratic quagmire. 鈥淢eanwhile, children die every year,鈥� he said.
Back in 2008, Harrison had strapped his son into his car, run an errand and 鈥� forgetting to drop Chase at day care 鈥� headed into work.
The grief that Harrison and his wife experienced never leaves, he said. That鈥檚 why he鈥檚 adamant that carmakers should include some kind of technology to alert parents or caregivers that a child has been left in a car.
鈥淧lease help us stop this terrible tragedy so other families don鈥檛 have to go through what my wife and I have had to go through 鈥� please,鈥� he said.
