 |
|
 |
NEWS |
 |
|
|
|
Child safety group wants state`s help in car campaign
March 21, 2006 07:00 AM
A national child safety group wants Northern Nevada to join its campaign to reduce the number of children killed or injured by backing vehicles.
"It`s our hope to keep kids alive, and we call out to Nevada for help," said Janette Fennell, founder and president of Kids and Cars.
Kids and Cars, a coalition of parents and safety groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics, received a recent congressional bipartisan boost: U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and John Sununu, R-N.H., introduced the Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act. The bill is named after a New York toddler who died when his pediatrician father ran over him with the family SUV when backing into the driveway.
The group has urged U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., to follow suit. "Fifty children are backed over a week," Fennell said. "Two of them will die, and 48 will be injured. If you hear a figure like that, how can you not make it a priority?"
Five fatal accidents:
In Nevada, five children have died in backover accidents since 2004, the latest incident in Sparks. Arik Ruiz, 19 months old, died after his father backed over him in the garage of their Sparks home in November 2005. If passed, the bill requires the Transportation Department to set standards for rear visibility. Auto manufacturers would determine technological standards, such as rear sensors, improved rearview or side mirrors and rearview cameras, which are already available on higher-end vehicles.
The bill also would require automatic windows that reverse if an obstruction is detected and a service brake that prevents vehicles from rolling if kicked into gear when the engine is off. A year ago, Fennell teamed with Jamie Schaefer-Wilson, a former TV producer-turned-safety advocate, to tackle backovers, power windows and vehicles inadvertently knocked into motion. Clinton, Sununu, and U.S. Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., quickly jumped on the act, dubbed the backover bill. "The cost is really insignificant compared to what we`re trying to do to save children`s lives," said Clinton during a telephone interview with the Associated Press. "The technology is inexpensive and easily installed." Clinton has high hopes for the bill`s passage, noting bipartisan support.
Parent, family issue "It`s a parent and family issue, not a partisan issue. It`s a problem with a practical solution."
Fennell is no stranger to the safety crusade. In 1995, Fennell, her husband and her 9-month-old son were kidnapped. She and her husband were locked in the trunk of a car. Her baby was left in his car seat, in the front yard of their San Francisco home. Fennell, who now lives in Kansas, knows she and her loved ones are the rare survivors in this kind of incident. That brought new meaning to her life. "I said, `This is crazy.` You shouldn`t be able to lock people in their own trunks. I did a four-year campaign and was able to get federal regulation passed. Any vehicle in the U.S. will have trunk release now," she said.
Backovers are most common in someone`s own driveway, with most victims being children, she said. "Backovers represent almost 50 percent of the fatalities we gather information on," she said. "We know of more than 100 kids who were backed over and killed last year, and 70 percent time parent or close relative behind the wheel. "The worst thing that could happen to a parent is to have their child killed. The only thing worse is if it happens at the parent`s hands."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Omer (SOMER@RGJ.COM)
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
