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New bill hopes to decrease child hot car deaths with technology

An alert system would tell drivers that a passenger is in the backseat when the car is turned off

By EMS1 Staff

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers and parents hope to reduce the number of children dying in hot cars with a new bill.

Big Country Reported the Helping Overcome Trauma for Children Alone in Rear Seats Act, or the HOT CARS Act, would require cars to have existing technology that warns drivers when there is a passenger in the backseat after the car has been turned off.

Representatives Tim Ryan of Ohio, Peter King from New York and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois have teamed up with parents who have unknowingly left a child in a hot car to introduce the bill to Congress.

Officials said 800 children have died from heatstroke after being left in a hot car since 1990.

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