Safety advocacy groups play an important role in forcing the enactment of safety regulations and thus protecting consumers from dangerous products. A particularly vulnerable sector of our society is children. If anyone requires advocacy on their behalf, it’s children–especially when it comes to automobile safety.
Fortunately, KidsandCars.org is in their corner, constantly pushing for safety regulations to be passed which will make it safer for children in cars. Most recently, KidsandCars.org advocated for the requirement that all newly manufactured cars be equipped with rear view mirror cameras. This is because, as reported in this New York Times article:
On average, two children die and about 50 are injured every week when someone accidentally backs over them in a vehicle…And more than two-thirds of the time, a parent or other close relative is behind the wheel.
Unfortunately, although the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration was initially set to approve the regulations that would require the installation of rear view mirror cameras, as reported in this Money.cnn article, the NHTSA delayed their decision until 2014:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has decided to postpone the creation of a new rule that would have required rearview back-up cameras in all new cars, pickups and SUVs by 2014.
The agency had been expected to announce the rule Wednesday. Instead, NHTSA issued a statement saying that “further study and data analysis” were needed before a final regulation could be issued.
“The Department remains committed to improving rearview visibility for the nation’s fleet and we expect to complete our work and issue a final rule by December 31, 2012,” NHTSA said.
This is truly an unfortunate turn of events and one that will undoubtedly result in the unnecessary deaths of our nation’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens. Our children deserve better and it’s advocacy groups like KidsandCars.org that work hard on a daily basis to prevent the tragic car accidents that could be prevented through the installation and use of appropriate safety devices in cars.
The Ankin Law (www.ankinlaw.com) handles workers’ compensation and personal injury cases. You can reach the firm by calling (312) 600-0000.