Kan. Woman Pleased With Vehicle Safety Act

Congress is forcing automakers to build safer cars thanks in part to a Leawood mother, KMBC's Kris Ketz reported.

Kids and Cars founder Janette Fennell said that 50 times a week a child is backed over by a car.

"Forty-eight of those children end up in hospital emergency rooms and at least two children every week in the United Sates are backed over and killed," Fennell said.

Fennell said she founded Kids and Cars to encourage vehicle safety. Ketz reported that this week's congressional approval of a new vehicle safety act sets government minimums on how much you should see out of the back of your car. The bill allows the feds 18 months to figure out how and when that should be done.

Ketz reported that one of the things Fennell has requested is a small camera located on the back of a vehicle to help eliminate the blind spot.

The bill also calls for carmakers to install auto-reverse features on power windows so children won't get their hands or arms caught. Fennell said another improvement would be an anti-rollaway system for vehicles with automatic transmissions. Ketz reported it means you would have to hit the brake before taking a car out of park.

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News & Politics

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• KMBC
• Leawood
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• Kids
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• Cars
• safety
• Janette
• Fennell