Trying - again - to get the "Back-Over Bill" passed

Since the year 2000, approximately 1,150 US children have been killed in non-crash, non-traffic vehicle fatalities – such as back-over accidents, power window strangulations, and children left in cars who become hypothermic or overheated. Toddlers seem to be most at risk, with the average age of victims at age 12 to 23 months. But these numbers are just rough estimates, because our federal government has no system for collecting data on these types of child deaths.

Kudos to Sen. Hillary Clinton [D-NY] and Rep. Jan Schakowsky [D-IL] for re-introducing federal legislation now in committee [S 694, HR 1216] that has earned a strong endorsement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The Cameron Gulbransen Kids & Cars Safety Act of 2007 would 1.) Direct the feds to collect information on non-crash, non-traffic vehicle fatalitis among kids, so we can better understand the scope of the problem and which changes are the most urgent, and 2.) Require auto-makers selling vehicles in the US to install new safety devices in all vehicles, including back-over warning systems, power window stops, and brake shift locks.

This bill did not pass when it was first introduced in 2003 - nor again in 2005.

Cost per average American household to implement the changes?
$45.61.

If you need even more inspiration to contact your members of Congress and ask them to support this legislation, just read Cameron Gulbransen's heartbreaking story. And this grandmother's gut-wrencher.

Automakers need a fire lit under their corporate behinds. They need to be held accountable for improving the safety of their products with readily-available, relatively cheap technologies. I'd love to think they'd do it on their own, without the government getting involved. But they haven't taken the initiative. And holding your breath gets old, when you know kids' lives are on the line.