Oprah to profile preventable auto tragedies Posted by mitcka at 05/31/07 06:54 PM

Its time to stop the incidents where children are killed because cars have huge blind spots, unsafe power windows or roll away when kids easily shift the gear out of park. All these problems have simple technical fixes.

Oprah's promos for today's show "Life-Saving Lessons from Families Like Yours" have already launched a web conversation about tragic and preventable auto accidents.

Most folks already posting comments about the show suffered a family tragedy related to drunk driving. But she also interviews a family who suffered tragedy because of a vehicle safety problem. As cars and trucks get bigger, so do blindspots--and hundreds of kids have been killed in backover incidents. That's a problem that we can work together to fix for everyone, permanently. Consumer Reports on Safety says passage of the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007 will help.

This proposal has real momentum (it just cleared a key committee in the Senate and heads to the floor next). It will result in a new safety standard for rear visibility, take care of cars that easily shift in gear and roll away, and have the government's safety experts consider making all power windows automatically reverse when there is something in the way, like small fingers. You may think it could be stronger but this proposal leaves the final decision about the exact standards and the right technology to the experts, sets a timeframe for cars to be safer, and gives automakers some flexibility as to the best fixes needed for each of their cars to meet the new standards.

Take a moment to comment here about making cars safer for kids, or click over and send your thoughts directly to Congress!

comments (2)

1 Posted by Gail at 08/06/07 04:25 PM

Idea to help remind parents who leave their kids in cars by mistake. Is it possible to have the remote controls that most people use today to lock their cars and give out a "beep or two" to confirm they are locked, also give out a verbal message: CHECK FOR YOUR KIDS or something to that affect? This type of recording may already be available, but if not, maybe car makers could program this message or something similar into the remote controls used to lock and unlock cars for all cars that are sold to people with kids! Thank you. I have sent this idea to others today as a result of reading a recent article by Allen G. Breed, Associated Press about "AP study: Charges vary when children die in hot cars."

2 Posted by KEN at 08/16/07 03:27 PM

A cheap, partial step would be to use a remote doorbell system in the car. The bell is taped to the back of the trunk, and the ringer is kept in a compartment on the shift console alongside the driver. Most of the time, driver will remember to press the ringer, alerting anyone near the rear of the car that backing up is imminent. Drawbacks? Sure, really young kids will not always respond, driver may forget or back up to soon, etc. But it will probably save some accidents, and it's so inexpensive there is really no cost barrier. Even if new cars are fitted out with these, all the old cars have to be retrofitted.
Finally, the design defect aspect in product liability litigation might be helpful. Any suits, yet? Construction equipment now has a gong for backing up because of a successful suit in the 1970s. Aside from the expensive systems discussed, simple warning bell systems which sound off when the gearshift is put into reverse would help, because the driver doesn't have to remember.
Ken