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Late Winter 2008 | Vol. 10 | No. 4
Congress Enacts Child Safety Act
The Senate has passed H.R. 1216-the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007. This bill passed the House in December and is expected to be signed into law by President Bush.
The bill addresses three major issues involving motor vehicles and child safety and requires the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe or amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) to do the following:
- Require power windows and panels on motor vehicles to automatically reverse direction when they detect an obstruction;
- Expand the required field of view to enable the driver of a motor vehicle to detect areas behind them to reduce death and injury resulting from backing incidents; and
- Require each motor vehicle with an automatic transmission that includes a 'park' position manufactured for sale after September 1, 2010 be equipped with a system that requires the service brake to be depressed before the transmission can be shifted out of 'park.'
The act also requires the creation of a database on injuries and deaths of children in non-traffic, non-crash events involving motor vehicles.