In an effort to prevent hot car deaths in children, Italy has passed a new law requiring vehicles to install a safety system that alerts drivers if a child has been left behind in their car seat.
According to CNN , Italy is the first country to ever implement such a law, which officially went into effect the first week of November. Its ultimate goal is to remind parents to take their children out of their cars with them to prevent serious injuries and heatstroke.
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The law applies to any drivers with children under the age of four in their vehicles.
Those individuals must now fit their car seats with special safety devices, or invest in car seats that come pre-equipped with the technology. Some of those systems make noise when the driver exits the vehicle, while others send a notification to a person’s phone once they’ve gone out of range of their child’s car seat.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport said these devices are available for purchase online and in children’s stores.
Anyone caught driving with children without the alarms can be fined between 88 and 333 Euros ($97-370 USD).
Those drivers can also lose points on their license. If they’re caught twice, their license will be suspended for 15 days.
Children fatalities as a result of being left inside hot vehicles is a serious problem in the United States.
Since 1998, a total of 818 children have died from pediatric vehicular heatstroke. Kidsandcars.org has previously reported that some 38 children in America die each year from being left in hot vehicles. However, that number has since climbed to 52 per year in 2019.
The “Hot Cars Act of 2019” was introduced to the US House of Representatives back in June and is still being considered.
If passed, it would require automakers to equip all new cars with a child safety alert system to alert parents when a child is left in the back seat.
Although winter is upon us, Amber Rollins, director of Kids and Cars, told Insider that parents must still be aware of the risks of leaving children in hot cars. She also said she hopes to see the U.S. follow Italy’s lead.
“It’s a horrific, horrific death,” Rollins said. “When we have something to protect children, why wouldn’t we be using it?”
