Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007

Statement

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman RUSH for yielding to me and for your support. I also want to extend my appreciation to Chairman Dingell whose assistance and guidance were critical in bringing this important bill, H.R. 1216, the Cameron Gulbransen Transportation Safety Act, to the floor today.

One of the most painful things I've been a part of as a Member of Congress are the press conferences which come about every 6 months or so in which parents and grandparents come to share pictures of their children and loved ones, some of whom they have accidentally killed by rolling over them with their vehicles. Imagine that for a moment, particularly in this time of year, as we wish to be with those we love the most.

I am here today because of these courageous people, driven by such horrifying accidents. Today we can pass this bill and reduce these unimaginably tragic and unnecessary deaths and make them a thing of the past. At just 2 years of age, Cameron Gulbransen was tragically killed when his father, a pediatrician from Long Island, accidentally backed over him. This bill is a tribute to him and the hundreds of other young children who have died.

This legislation was first introduced back in 2003 with my colleague from New York, Congressman PETER KING, whose constituent is Dr. Gulbransen. But today I stand here with strengthened resolve. Just 2 days ago as her mother picked up snow shovels that had been left in the driveway, Ashlynn Lauber, an 8-year-old from just outside Collinsville, Illinois, my State, was killed when the family car rolled over her.

Unfortunately, since we first introduced H.R. 1216, well over 1,000 children have needlessly died in preventable accidents, and this year alone 200 children have died of back-over accidents. Many children are killed in these kinds of accidents each year without ever leaving their driveways, suffocated by unsafe power windows, backed over by cars with major blind spots, or hit because a car was accidentally put into motion by a child who could not control it.

H.R. 1216 is commonsense, consensus legislation that reflects input from the auto industry as well as child safety advocates. This legislation will require the Secretary of Transportation to set minimum safety standards for cars, SUVs and trucks, and to begin rule-making in three areas: Expanding rearward visibility, enabling power windows to automatically reverse direction when an obstruction is detected, and requiring brake pedals to be engaged when a vehicle is not in park.

Expanding the rearward visibility standard will give drivers a better means of detecting when small children or objects are behind their vehicles. Some SUVs have rearward visibility so poor that up to 62 children could fit in their blind spot with the driver being none the wiser. This provision will enable drivers to detect areas behind motor vehicles and will help reduce deaths and injuries from backing incidents, particularly for children and the disabled.

Instructing the Secretary to consider requiring power windows to automatically reverse direction when an obstruction is detected will help prevent small children from being caught in or strangled by windows. These accidents have taken a minimum of 21 lives over the last 5 years.

And finally, requiring every vehicle's brake pedal to be engaged when the car is shifted out of ``park'' and into another gear will prevent anyone not intending to drive the car, such as a child who cannot typically reach the brake pedal, from accidentally setting the car into motion. In the past 5 years, at least 80 children have lost their lives in this kind of accident.

Families want safe cars. They deserve these commonsense safety features. It is time that we make sure they get them. And one of the best parts of this bill is that it will direct the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to create a publicly searchable database of nontraffic, noncrash-related motor vehicle injuries and to establish a child safety information program to help consumers address ways in which parents and caregivers can reduce risks to small children.

Better design and technologies already exist, and they are getting better and cheaper every day. Many companies already offer these added safety features on their higher end vehicles, but protecting our children is not a luxury to be priced out of reach for most Americans. It is time that manufacturers include these features in every vehicle.

I'd like to publicly thank Kids and Cars and the Consumers Union for strenuously advocating for the safety of children and for taking on the critical problem of unsafe cars. And I, again, want to thank Chairman Dingell, Mr. Barton and Mr. Stearns for their efforts. And I would like to thank Jonathan Cordone and David Cavicke on the committee staff for all their hard work on this bill. I also want to extend a special thanks to Congressman PETER KING for his leadership and resolve that he's demonstrated over the years.

And finally, I want to thank Diane Beedle, my former legislative director, who worked tirelessly on this issue, and the families who have turned their tragedies into advocacy.

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