New laws can fight backover deaths

THE FOUR children backed over and killed in Hawaii in the past few months are part of a tragic national pattern -- at least two children die each week in America in these backovers because drivers simply cannot see behind their vehicles. Consumer Reports has measured blind zones as large as 69 feet long and 7 feet wide, longer than many driveways. When 62 three-year-olds stand behind a Chevy Suburban and not one can be seen from the driver's seat, this is a tragedy waiting to happen.

If we can reduce or eliminate a safety risk for a reasonable cost and we have the technology to do so, we should use it. That is the motivation behind the Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act, which has broad bipartisan support.

How much is the life of a child worth? Consumers pay far more for DVD players, chrome wheels or chilled and heated cup holders than the cost of these safety devices. Yes, parents must take primary responsibility for their children, but you can't avoid hitting what you can't see. Moreover, the parents we know whose children have been backed over -- and we know too many -- are conscientious, caring and loving people. Many did, in fact, walk around their vehicles before getting in, but as we know, children can get into harm's way in a matter of seconds.

The Star-Bulletin's position (Our opinion, April 10) seems to be that parents have all the responsibility and that neither government nor those who design the product should play a role in protecting children. If that principle were true, thousands of children would be dead today from garage doors that used to crush kids but now have a safety sensor that opens them if they detect an obstruction, from medicines or poisons that now have safety caps or lids, or from car trunks or refrigerators that could trap and suffocate children but are now designed with release mechanisms. All these design fixes came at a modest cost -- most mandated by Congress when industry failed to take action -- but they have prevented countless tragedies.

The Star Bulletin calls legislation mandating auto-reverse power windows in all vehicles "absurd" and minimizes the risk that power windows pose. In fact, a 1997 federal study shows that at least 500 people, many of them children whose fingers have been amputated or hands broken, are admitted to emergency rooms each year from power window injuries. Yes, the number of children dying from power window strangulation might be low, but it should be zero. The technology to prevent every one of these deaths costs less than $9 a window. Fifteen percent of cars sold in the United States already have this feature in the driver's side window, and all four windows automatically reverse in more than 80 percent of vehicles sold in Europe.

Many high-end vehicles feature advanced safety technologies, including rear-view cameras that provide a panoramic view behind the vehicle. Eighty-five percent of drivers in the same federal study the Star-Bulletin quotes say they find the cameras "effective or very effective." But safety shouldn't be a luxury only for the affluent. As safety advocates, we will continue to educate parents and the media about these dangers. It's impossible to put a price on the life of a child and with these safety technologies readily available at a modest cost, we shouldn't have to.

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