'Kids and Cars' to Soon Become Law

This week Congress approved a piece of auto safety legislation popularly known as the Kids and Cars Act, which President Bush is expected to sign into law. While hailed by both parties, the law is largely toothless and more of a blueprint for future reforms.

The bill requires the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set up a database of auto-accidents not related to traffic — mostly those that take the lives of children. That would include rare but deadly cases of children being backed over by unaware drivers, or being suffocated when their necks are caught in power windows.

The bill requires the NHTSA to merely study the prospect of requiring auto-manufacturers to design all windows to retract if they meet an obstacle, much the way your garage door does. The cost of such regulation for automakers would be about $10 per window for a total of $700 million each year.

While safety advocates want to require all vehicles to include back-up cameras or other rear visibility improvements, the bill notes the expense of mandating such measures and asks only that the NHTSA take the next year to devise and draft a proposal for “expanding the field of view” behind every vehicle. That may include back-up cameras, as well as additional mirrors. These new requirements would then be phased in over a four-year period.

Senate Sends ‘Kids and Cars’ Act to Bush (Detroit News)

Comments

[Mike]

Safety Safety Safety Safety. Jeeze when will safe enough be safe enough. The old rocker window switches (which were not inherently dangerous) have been eliminated to protect children from negligent and pitifully uneducated parents that leave their children in car unattended. Now retracting windows, how idiot proof do we need to make cars? Ditto for the cameras a prudent driver would be careful while backing up. We all shouldn't have to be penalized for adults that don't keep track of their children. Cars are already overstuffed with unnecessary items.

[Mike B.]

Well, when it comes to kids, I say: the safer, the better. While I can see your point, Mike, I also realize that genuine accidents happen, and I for one am more than willing to spend a bit extra to help make sure that the little tykes are kept out of harm's way.

Now, should the Government mandate it? I'm not sure, but I do feel that regardless of whether they do or not, the auto manufacturers should step-up to the plate and standardize these items anyway. Despite what they may say, with today's technology, it really wouldn't be that expensive to do.

On a similar note, stability control (and by association, ABS) definitely should be required, IMO. I won't buy or recommend another vehicle without it.

[Infosaur]

Remember folks, place your child DIRECTLY behind the rear wheels of the familly sedan while you go in to do laundry!

How many back up/run over accidents are there anyway? I bet this story will go away when they find the answer is very few.

And how many cars will get carjacked when you can't close your window when someone sticks their arm in it?

All said and done, we'll just find that a shocking number of parents leave their kids unattended in the car on a hot day to suffocate. But we already know that.

[GCN]

One good first step towards improving rear visibility is to reverse the current trend to ever smaller windows, of which Toyota and Hummer are the number one culprits, although there are plenty of others heading in the same direction.