Schakowsky Introduces Kids And Cars Safety Act of 2007

SCHAKOWSKY INTRODUCES KIDS AND CARS SAFETY ACT OF 2007

WASHINGTON, DC--U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, today joined Senators Clinton and Sununu and Representative Peter King to unveil legislation to protect kids from unsafe cars. The Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act would set mandatory standards which would require auto manufacturers to adopt simple safety measures to decrease the number of preventable non-traffic, non-crash related accidents.

"Year after year, hundreds of young lives are needlessly lost because Congress has failed to pass legislation that would make cars safer for children,... said Congresswoman Schakowsky. "As the grandmother of four, it breaks my heart that so many families have been destroyed by accidents that are entirely preventable. We cannot afford to wait any longer to pass this crucial piece of legislation because thousands of children's lives are at stake....

Since 2000, over 1,000 children have died in non-traffic, non-crash related accidents. Sadly, nearly all of these deaths were completely preventable. The Kids and Cars Safety Act of 2007 directly addresses vehicles and child safety problems, such as children being backed over, strangled by power windows or killed when they inadvertently shift a car into gear causing an accident.

The bill directs the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to issue the following regulations to decrease the incidence of child injury and death:

• Ensure power windows automatically reverse direction when they detect an obstruction to prevent children from being trapped, injured or killed:
• Provide drivers with a means of detecting the presence of a person or object behind their vehicle;
• Provide for the vehicle service brake to be engaged to prevent vehicles from unintentionally rolling away; and
• Establish a child safety information program to collect non-traffic incident data and disseminate information to parents about these hazards and ways to mitigate them.

As a lifelong consumer advocate, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) has dedicated her career to protecting consumers from waste, fraud and abuse. In Congress, Schakowsky has led numerous efforts to protect consumers from unsafe products and unfair business practices. Congresswoman Schakowsky current serves as the Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.