Nearly 40 advocacy groups are urging the U.S. Department of Transportation to propose new rules to reduce the number of children and companion animals that die or suffer serious injuries when left unattended in hot cars, according to a letter sent Tuesday to Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Kids and Car Safety, the American Academy of Pediatrics and dozens of other organizations want the Transportation Department to mandate that automakers install rear-seat alert systems in passenger cars, as required by the 2021 infrastructure law.
They also want the agency to require more advanced child detection systems, which would likely be more effective at preventing deaths and injuries than alert systems since they monitor the entire passenger compartment.
“The tragedy of a child or companion animal dying in a hot car is entirely preventable. Yet, auto manufacturers, with limited exceptions, are not putting technological solutions into cars as standard equipment. As temperatures begin to rise, U.S. DOT must not defer, delay or dilute this lifesaving rulemaking,” the letter says.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was supposed to make its new regulation public in December, but it hasn’t. Safety advocates worry that further delays could lead to more children dying. Moreover, the 2021 infrastructure law requires that the agency finalize the rule by Nov. 15, 2023. Some experts say that competing priorities, including implementing other infrastructure law provisions and staff vacancies at NHTSA, may contribute to the delay.
The letter states that child detection systems, such as the one offered by Continental, are available in the U.S. and inexpensive.
“Moreover, the price will go down due to economies of scale once required, similar to rearview cameras,” the letter says.
