‘Kids and Cars’ campaigns to reduce backover accidents

A coalition of parents and safety groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, are counting on common sense and technology, plus a boost from bipartisan teams of congressional politicians, to drastically curb the number of kids injured in non-crash auto accidents.

Janette Fennell is the founder of Kids and Cars, which wants to assure no child dies or is injured in a non-crash motor vehicle event. About a year ago, she teamed with Jamie Schaefer-Wilson, a former TV producer-turned-safety advocate, to tackle specific issues: backovers, power windows and vehicles inadvertently knocked into motion.

The result is the Cameron Gulbransen Kids And Cars Safety Act, a bill sponsored by Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and John Sununu (R-N.H.) in the Senate and Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) in the House. It’s named for a boy from Long Island, N.Y., who died when his father accidentally ran him over with the family SUV when backing into his driveway.

Setting a standard
If the bill passes, the Department of Transportation would set a standard for what drivers should be able to see behind them when backing their vehicle. Automakers would decide how best to meet that standard with technologies such as rear sensors, better rearview or side mirrors, and rearview cameras which are already available on some higher-end vehicles. Also, it mandates automatic reversal of power windows if an obstruction is detected and a service brake that prevents vehicles from rolling away.

According to Clinton, the window sensor is $12, the gear brake $5 and the backover system $300, which is cheaper than a DVD system. “The cost is really insignificant compared to what we’re trying to do to save children’s lives,” Clinton says.

Clinton notes that the bill has bipartisan support. “It’s a parent and family issue, not a partisan issue. It’s a problem with a practical solution.”

Fennell is no stranger to a safety crusade, having won regulations requiring trunk releases in all autos. She took on backovers and windows because she said the government wasn’t dealing with them.

Backovers are most common in someone’s own driveway and the majority of victims are children, she says. “We know of more than 100 kids who were backed over and killed last year, and 70 percent time there was parent or close relative behind the wheel,” she said.

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