Finally! Long-Awaited Rule Meant to Prevent Back-Over Accidents Passes



A sobering thought: Each week, 50 children are accidentally backed over by a vehicle and 228 are killed annually by those accidents, which typically occur in parking lots or driveways, according to statistics compiled by public safety awareness nonprofit KidsAndCars.org. That’s why Monday’s passing of a rule issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)that would require most new vehicles — cars, SUVs, vans, and light trucks — to come equipped with "rear visibility technology" (which will allow the driver to see a 10-foot by 20-foot zone behind the car) by May 2018.

"Safety is our highest priority, and we are committed to protecting the most vulnerable victims of backover accidents — our children and seniors," U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Monday in an NHTSA statement. "As a father, I can only imagine how heart wrenching these types of accidents can be for families, but we hope that today's rule will serve as a significant step toward reducing these tragic accidents."

It's reassuring news for parents who have been anxiously waiting for the rule to be implemented since 2008. According to the political website The Hill, back then, former President George W. Bush signed the Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Transportation Safety Act (named after a New York child accidentally killed in 2002 by pediatrician father Greg Gulbransen in a backover accident) which required cars to have "additional mirrors, sensors, cameras, or other technology to expand the driver’s field of view" by February 2011. In December 2010, the NHTSA announced its intention to require a rear-mounted video camera and visual display for all cars, but that plan never came to fruition. A proposal was then sent to the White House in November 2011 for a 90-day review, but it mysteriously remained there due to budget problems, technological issues, and claims that more research needed to be conducted.

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In September, Gulbransen, along with another New York parent named Sue Auriemma, who accidentally backed over her 3-year-old daughter in 2005 (she survived), and KidsandCars.org even sued the Obama administration to enact the 2008 passing, in a case filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals (arguments had been scheduled to be presented Tuesday). That same month, Gulbransen wrote an op-ed piece on the subject in the Washington Post.

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“One evening in 2002, as I backed my SUV into my driveway, I checked my rearview and side mirrors, but there was something they could not show me: Cameron had followed me outside and was standing, in his pajamas, directly behind my vehicle. I ran over my son. I thought my tragedy was a freak accident. But I soon learned that each week dozens of toddlers in the United States are struck by drivers backing up. Rearview and side mirrors show a lot, but there is a large area directly behind every vehicle that can’t be seen by drivers.

Yahoo Shine could not reach Dr. Gulbransen for comment, however, Jeanette Fennel, founder and president of KidsandCars.org, tells Yahoo Shine, "This is a great day — we've been working on this law for more than 10 years. We've been given lots of excuses as to why it wasn't passed, but today the law looks pretty much as it did when we filed the lawsuit in 2008. We couldn't be more thrilled."

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