CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- As an Evanston woman is accused by Niles police of leaving her 2-year-old son alone in a car where the inside temperature reached 110 degrees, a local member of Congress is sponsoring a bill to help prevent such things from happening.
Janette Fennell of KidsandCars, an organization focused on protecting children from being left alone in hot vehicles, said often times parents do not realize they have done so.
Fennell’s group is behind the Hot Cars Act, which is co-sponsored by Chicago Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. It would require equipping all new vehicles with an alert system to let drivers know when someone is left behind in a vehicle.
"Children and domestic animals left unattended in vehicles, or independently accessing unoccupied vehicles on their own, are a significant public health and safety problem," the bill reads.
It also noted that a record number of fifty-two children died in hot cars in 2018, and more than 800 children have died in hot cars since 1998, according to KidsandCars. In Illinois, there were 20 deaths during that period. In 2019 so far, at least 16 children have already died due to vehicular heat stroke, the organization's study found.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety also support the bill, which is supported by Tim Ryan (D-OH) and Pete King (R-NY).