Season and waves new technology reduce heatrelated deaths. Child who died after being left in a hot car. This is about 40 minutes. Ms. Schakowsky the chair now recognizes herself for five minutes or for an opening statement. Good morning and thank you for being with us today during todays hearing is about promoting auto safety and raising awareness about the threats families face on our nations roads and off the roads as well as we enter summer driving season. Threats ise vehicular heatstroke, when a child is left in a car. I would like to introduce two families who have endured those strategies and turned the pain into advocating to make sure no child ever dies in an overheating car. Harrison, froml personal, virginia, they are the parents of a child who died at 8, 2008months on july after being unknowingly left in a hot car. Hawley of charlotte, north , her child was four weeks old when he was unknowingly left in their family car. Fortunately, his parents realized quickly their mistake and rescued their baby boy. But just a few months later, one of his daycare classmates died in a hot car shortly after a erinsonth child in Community Also died in a hot car. There are far too many ways for errands to lose children that we cannot control. We have a duty, however, to do everything we can to ensure that parents do not lose a child when we can prevent that. 52 children died in heatstroke in cars last year. 52. Parentscases, the accidentally loving parents accidentally left their child in the car. Eight children died in hot cars so far this year. Just yesterday, a fivemonthold girl tragically died in a van sitting outside of her daycare. Education alone cannot solve this crisis. Even the most attentive parent can give this tragedy and inadvertently leave their child in a rapidly warming vehicle. A simple alert notification for parents that they have left their child in a car can save their lives. Yesterday, we had a press conference where several such technologies were displayed, proving that we have the technological skills that we need to prevent many of these tragedies. We do have to do an evaluation of those different technologies. You get a warning when you leave keys in the car. Or when you leave your lights on. Every new car should be equipped with technology to alert parents if they learn that a child is in the car. That is why im eager to reintroduce the hot cars act, and alsoressman ryan, with congressman keenan of new york, that new cars come equipped with an alert system. I also look forward tore exploring many other Safety Technologies, such as automatic emergency braking, departure warnings, and pedestrian detection. That exist today and can dramatically reduce the number of automobile fatalities and injuries. The deployment of these safety features is slow and often reserved for those willing to pay a premium for advanced technology in their cars. It is time for congress to take Decisive Action to keep families safe and we do have a track record of success. Last year, finally, rear backup cameras became standard in new vehicles, and an issue that i champion for a long time before it actually became the law and was enforced. Thanks to the commitment of the parents and children who worked to make sure that happens. I look forward to exploring how we can ensure all cars can be equipped with the best safety features, and i now yield to the ranking member, ms. Mcmorris rogers. Rep. Mcmorris rodgers thank you , madam chair, for your leadership on these important issues for many years and now is the chair of this subcommittee. Welcome to everyone. Today we will explore ways that we can protect families from dangers on our roadways than our roadways. As well as off our roadways as , as the chairwoman just outlined. First, thank you, mr. Harrison for being here. Your story is powerful and moving, and i want to commend you for your commitment to chase. Several auto makers have reduced instances children are left in cars head on. And there are several startups focusing on other technologies. I am committed to finding all paths to getting safe technologies into cars faster. Sometimes that means we need certainty, and sometimes the market needs space for innovation. Or both. This weekend is memorial day weekend, and it brings family and friends together. We honor who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. It also unofficially marks the start of the summer of vacation, and with more travel comes with more risks on the roads. In recent years, more than 300 people have died over the holiday weekend, and some estimate that the number could increase over this weekend. I encourage everyone here to be and everyone watching to be safe. Put your phone down. Focus on driving. Do not drive if you have consumed any alcohol or other drugs. If you feel different, drive different. Put on your seatbelts. Seatbelts save lives. Risks on our roadways also present safety concerns year round. Technology offers potential solutions to many of these safety concerns. Right now, advanced Driver Assistance Systems are in more cars that we drive every day. Those advanced systems include automatic emergency braking, lane departure warnings, crash Avoidance Technology, blind spot detection, vehicletovehicle communication, and so much more. 20 automakers have voluntarily pledged to include automatic emergency braking in virtually all new vehicles by september 2022. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety estimates that by 2025, these systems will prevent 28,000 crashes and 12,000 injuries. These systems are the Building Foundation and Building Blocks for selfdriving vehicles. We lose more than 37,000 lives a year on our roads, and according to the national Highway Safety administration, 94 of all accidents are due to human error. These include destructive driving driving under the , influence of alcohol or drugs, and even driving drowsy. The more we can safely automate the driving process, the more human error we can remove. As a result, we have greatly improve the safety of our roadways. In addition to drastically improving safety, selfdriving vehicles offered vast mobility benefits. People with disabilities, our elderly community, and those not served by traditional Public Transportation stand to gain so much from widespread use of self driving vehicles. Selfdriving vehicles promise to improve freedom and mobility for our communities. Selfdriving vehicle would make going to work, to the grocery store, across town to visit friends, or going to the doctor so much more easier. Selfdriving vehicles will restore independence and break down the transportation barriers for so many americans. They are also important for our global standing. Right now, the United States is the Global Leader in the innovation. To compete and remain a leader, we must do everything we can to advance the Safe Development and deployment of selfdriving vehicle technology. Other countries are moving full speed ahead. Some are even developing their own technology in our backyard. Almost a quarter of the Companies Testing in california are chinese. Earlier this year, i joined my colleagues, republican leader walden and representative latta, in continuing the bipartisan work of the Safe Development of selfdriving cars. I want to think the chairwoman for holding this important hearing for us to explore ways in which we can improve auto safety and save lives. Thank you, and i yield back. Rep. Schakowsky the gentlewoman yields back. And now i recognize chairman sloan for five minutes for his opening statement. Rep. Sloan thank you, madam chair. This hearing is timely, as memorial day weekend is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. Millions of americans are taking to the road to travel to barbecues and beaches, including many heading to the jersey shore. This could be a dangerous weekend, too. Nearly 300 people died in crashes on memorial day weekend in 2017. As temperatures rise, so does the risk of heat stroke for infants in cars. In 2017, more than 40 people died as a result of a Motor Vehicle accident and 4. 6 million were injured. Motor vehicle death rates have increased since 2014 after a decade of falling. It is a troubling trend suggesting we need to double down on the efforts to improve our safety of our roadways. Technology exists which will improve safety, but we must find ways to get them in hands of all drivers. Take, for example, heat stroke victims in last year, that many died after being left in hot cars. Over the last 20 years, 802 children have been lost from these types of tragedies and more than half of those deaths occur when a distracted parent accidentally leaves their child in a vehicle. This is a heart break that mr. Harrison knows too well. Mr. Harrison, i am sorry for your loss and i thank you for sharing your sons story in the hopes that we can stop these types of accidents. There are ways we can prevent kids from dying from vehicular heatsroke. This crisis requires action. Just yesterday, there was another death in florida after a baby girl died after being left in a day care van for several hours. That is why i applaud the chairwoman and others for their work on the hot cars act, which will require vehicles to be equipped with Safety Technologies these kinds of technologies hold the promise of saving lives and reduce the number and severity of auto crashes. Crash Avoidance Technology is like automatic emergency brakes, rear automatic braking, blind spot detection and lane departure warnings are proving to reduce crashes. Similarly, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates that adaptive headlights, which automatically channel light around curves would prevent up to 90 of nighttime crashes. These headlights are available overseas but are not legal in the u. S. And yet, not much has been done to encourage automakers to make Life Saving Technology standard. If an automotive feature or technology proves it can save lives, it should not be a luxury reserved for those who can afford to buy the high end cars. The National Transportation Highway Safety administration is even failing at incentivizing manufacturers to adopt safety features. The new Car Assessment Program provides ratings on a scale from 15 stars for vehicle performance and crash and rollover tests. This rating is supposed to be a tool that helps consumers make more informed decisions when purchasing their vehicles and encouraging manufactures to exceed minimum safety standards. The safety field has become a participation trophy. 99 of 2016 models received four or five stars, the highest rating. The very integrity and value of the rating is undermined if the certification does not draw meaningful distinction between the safety of different vehicles. It is also not meaningful if the certification fails to provide technology being deployed on automobiles. Unfortunately, the five star safety rating does not account for advanced crash avoidance technologies such as forward collision morning and blind spot detection. Nthsa started to update the program in 2015 and have yet to make needed changes. We must modernize the rating for modern autos so consumers can identify and purchase the safest cars. I thank our witnesses for testifying this morning. Madam chair, i want to say that i am impressed by all the hearings you have been having, and the initiatives that are coming forward on consumer protection. I think that has been neglected in the past. Youre making sure that we deal with consumer issues that they are at the forefront. Thank you. Ms. Scharkowsky thank you mr. Chairman. In lieu of the ranking republican, mr. Latta is recoginzied. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you for moving todays hearing. I want to thank all of the witnesses for being with us today. As i mentioned, this weekend is memorial day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. Summertime means school is out. Families across the country are hitting the roads for vacation. It can also mean more inexperienced Drivers Behind the wheel, added congestion, and increased on productive ability on our roadways. Today, we have the opportunity to discuss the bipartisan efforts this subcommittee can mandate that can make for the developing and implement of different technologies that have the potential to address some of these concerns and save thousands of lives. In 2016, more than 37,000 people lost their lives on u. S. Highways. 94 of the accidents are attributed to human error, including driver distraction. I believe there are technologies we can utilize to prevent the loss of life during the summertime driving season and anytime. Today, many cars are equipped with active safety features or semiautonomous driving systems. These systems, known as advanced Driver Assistance Systems, help traversed in their lane, pass a slowmoving vehicle, change lanes, avoid front end collisions and even park. They display the technologies in place to address auto safety concerns and are the foundation for the deployment of self driving vehicles. In my last congress i introduced with chairman schakowsky the bipartisan act that legislated regulated self driving vehicles, provided muchneeded updates for outdated statutory and regulatory barriers and insured that the National Transportation safety ministration gets the data it needs, also while improving safety and mobility for those with disabilities, and those underserved by inadequate Public Transportation. Included in the legislation was to spur innovation around technology to help prevent the tragedy of a child from losing their life in a vehicle. U. S. Companies are investing major resources in the research and deployment of these technologies. The self drive act would have provided muchneeded certainty and updates to existing rules to unleash innovation. Earlier this year, i joined Republican Leaders and requesting the chairman of the full committee that this Committee Stay focused on this issue. I believe our work on the self drive act was an example of this committee at its best, working together in an open process on technology that will save lives. Since the legislation passed unanimously in committee and on the house floor, it is my hope we can make this issue a priority again in this congress. Within this subcommittee, our chair has worked tirelessly for technology to prevent the tragedies we have heard about when a child is left in a hot car. I commend her for her work and stay committed to working with her in a bipartisan way to implement policies that could reduce these tragedies. We have an opportunity toward work toward endless toward ending senseless deaths on our roads making investments in technology. I want to think our members and staff on both sides of the aisle for their work on this issue. I think the gentlelady and yield back the balance of my time. Ms. Schakowsky i thank the gentleman. I want to assure you that we will be working in a bipartisan way on Autonomous Vehicles but also the safety protection bills. Come on asyone will a cosponsor of the hot cars act. Now, it is my privilege to introduce our witnesses today. I did want to point out that there is a slightly different feature available today. Those are boxes of tissue. We are dealing with a very sensitive issue today. Our witnesses are miles harrison, the father of chase harrison. Nel, the president and founder of the kids in cars organization. Gary shapiro, president and ceo of Consumer Technology association. And jason levine, executive director for the center for auto safety. I want to thank our witnesses for joining us today. We look forward to your testimony. I failed to mention that all members can submit for the record opening statements. At this time, the chair will recognize each witness for five minutes to provide their opening statement. I think most people here understand the light system. You have a series of lights. A light will be green at the start of your opening statement. The light will turn yellow when you have one minute remaining. Please begin to wrap up testimony at that point. The light will turn red when your time has expired. Mr. Harrison, again, very grateful for you to be here. I know this is difficult. We all do. You are recognized for five minutes. Mr. Harrison thank you very much. And for everyone here, thank you for your time. 11 years ago, it was a typical day in my home. Everyone getting up and getting ready to head out the door, as well as myself, getting ready to go to work. Like many parents, i was multitasking, thinking of all the things to do during the day. We were rushing around, not very organized. My world changed forever that day. When i went to my office, i was focused on all of the work problems that people typically focus on. The day flew by. I went out to lunch with my boss and we talked about all the problems, all the pressures. Having no idea what time it was, at the end of the day, a colleague of mine came to my Office Around 5 00 and said, hey, do you have a doll in your car . I said, a doll . What are you talking about . It was then that i realized, oh my god, oh my god, what have i done . I ran outside of my office and rushed to my car. I saw my son chase through the window. I threw open the car door and grabbed him and rushed into my office, carrying him and screaming, oh my god, oh my god. Not dropped him off at the daycare. I was so distraught and upset i could not see straight. I was taken by ambulance to the emergency room. I remember a nurse asking me if i wanted something for the pain. I said, i dont deserve that. I need to feel all the pain. From the hospital, they took me to the police station, where the police insinuated that i had murdered by son. The first thing i asked me is if i had Life Insurance on my son. I did not even think about that. From the police station, i was taken to a hospital, where i stayed under an assumed name for two weeks, because if i had checked in with my real name, i would have been arrested. During my hospital stay, my son had a funeral, which i was not allowed to attend. I made my own funeral by pulling out the trundle part of my bed and had my own funeral because i could not go to my sons. My story continues with a public trial, fighting a charge of involuntary manslaughter, which thank god, i was found not guilty. It did not matter to me. I was already guilty. So full of shame and embarrassment and anger. I had killed my son. I cry every day for chase. I still havent forgiven myself and dont know if i ever will. After the trial, there was a pulitzer prizewinning article called fatal distraction, about parents who have gone through what my family has gone through. This do not this did not have to happen. If there had been a simple alert in my car, this would not have happened. Children are dying unnecessarily , families are being destroyed. In my sons honor, we have made it a mission to try to help congress implement some sort of a car warning system. Please, i implore you to enact this legislation. I know my time is running out, so im going to stop, but i want to thank you all for hearing my testimony. Please help us. Ms. Schakowsky thank you so much. Ms. Fennell, you are recognized. Ms. Fennell i am the founder and president of kidsandcars. Org. We are in organization dedicated to improving the safety of children in and around Motor Vehicles. Kidsandcars. Org appreciates the opportunity to express our views on the hot car act and other available technologies that will save the lives of children. 1996, my family was kidnapped at gunpoint in San Francisco and locked in the trunk of our car. Thankfully, we all survived and used this traumatic experience to guide the federal regulatory process to make sure that no one else has to end up in the trunk of a vehicle with no means of escape. Now, all vehicles come with internal trunk release as Standard Equipment. We are proud of that accomplishment. The most important lesson we continue to learn every day is that simple changes to vehicles save lives. In fact, not one person has died in a vehicle equipped with an internal trunk release. Not one. We are showing a chart that talks about hot car deaths. Starting in the mid1990s, parents were told to transport their children in the backseat of the vehicles to protect them from the airbags in the front seat. Laws were passed requiring this behavior and that forever changed the way American Children are transported. As you can see from this chart, while we have eradicated children being killed by the airbags, children continue to die in hot cars. When most people think about memory, they think about retrospective memory, the ability to recall things from the past. The other type of memory is prospec to memory, the ability to plan and execute an action in the future, for example the intention to drop a child at daycare. Prospective memory is more prone to forgetfulness. If you have ever forgotten something on top of your car or failed to run an errand, youve experienced the fickleness of our prospective memory. Unknowingly leaving a child in a vehicle is a prospective memory failure. Studies show that on autopilot, the brain is unable to account a change in routine. The reason is that when you are on autopilot you are functioning on your habit memories, not what is happening in the here and now. The catch is that the habit memory suppresses and completely takes over the prospective memory regardless of the importance of your plans. Autopilot is most common during times of stress and fatigue, both of which all parents of Young Children experience. These cognitive failures have nothing to do with the parents love for their child or the ability to care for them. No one in this world has an infallible memory. We need to focus on technology, because we have proven year after year that knowing this can happen to you and hearing on the news is not changing anything. A detection system is a must. Right now, somewhere in the United States dozens of families are going about their daily lives, unaware that by the years end their child will die in a hot car. Lets talk about front overs. The 2018 report says that they are responsible for 366 deaths and 15,000 injuries. Toddlers are extremely vulnerable, because they have established independent mobility at 12 years of age. They have not developed the cognitive ability to understand danger. Young children are impulsive, unpredictable, and have very poor judgment. This is a real combination for disaster. Automatic emergency braking or a birdseye or 360 degree View Technology uses a series of cameras and sensors around the vehicle allowing the drivers to see outside of the vehicle. Keyless ignition. This is a Vehicle Design law that could be easily remedied with an automatic ignition shutoff feature. Many drivers are accustomed to using a traditional key to start and stop their vehicle. Key istraditional removed, that means the engine is turned off. However, in a keyless ignition, drivers can walk away with the key in the hand while the vehicle is left running. As i wrap up, i can say nothing more eloquent than a statement that was made in automotive news. All safety related devices should become Standard Equipment on all vehicles. No choice. It is not an economic decision. It is a moral decision. When the choice becomes profits versus lives, the decision should be simple. Thank you. Ms. Schakowsky thank you so much. I do want to announce that a vote has been called. We have time for mr. Shapiros five minutes. I recognize you now. Then we will break and hopefully all of those here can come back. I will be here. Members of the subcommittee, thank you for giving me this opportunity to testify. The Consumer Technology association represents over 2200 American Technology companies, 80 of whom are Small Businesses and startups. Ces is the largest and most influential tech event in the world. Its in las vegas every january. We applaud you and this committee for addressing this important issue Vehicle Safety, especially around the busy summer driving season. We know that many lifesaving technologies exist and others, such as Self Driving Technology are quickly advancing. At ces 2018, a passionate advocate for the welfare of children and president of answer exhibited her innovation for the first time. She was 82 years old. After seeing news stories about children and pets left in hot cars, carol decided she could make a difference through technology. She invented a presence detector, an alarm device to prevent children, seniors and pets from being left alone in cars. Other entrepreneurs have introduced devices to solve this problem using connected car seats, apps, and bluetooth. They all help remind parents to check the back seat. Automakers have worked to address this problem. Nissan has a rear door alert system, which monitors when the rear door is opened and closed before and after the vehicle is in motion. Several other tech enabled safe driving products can increase safety. There are tools to help people monitor teenage drivers to prevent distraction and alert First Responders in case of an emergency. You have heard the statistics today. 30,00040,000 people are dying every year on u. S. Roads. That is more than 100 desperate day and 94 of crashes are due to human error. On average, 11 children die in auto accidents every week. We can prevent those tragedies. Self driving vehicles will lead to a huge reduction in roadway fatalities. They cannot become distracted, fatigued, or impaired, and they have a 360 degree viewing area around the vehicle. Not only will selfdriving vehicles save lives, they will empower seniors and people with disabilities. A full adoption of self driving vehicles could cut insurance premiums by 40 . We will see increased productivity as people waste less time in traffic. We will need fewer parking structures, opening areas for green space. Every day there are advances in selfdriving vehicles. Many companies, here and abroad, are testing self driving vehicles, with countries like china vying for the lead. The road to fully selfdriving vehicles is a global competition and we expect every leading nation to confront tough issues such as selfdriving accidents, which will occur, although in miniscule numbers as compared to the National Annual carnage from human drivers. Some argue selfdriving vehicles should not be deployed until systems are perfect. This is a dangerous road because perfection may be a long, unreachable goal. Every year that we delay selfdriving, we are costing tens of thousands of american lives. A report found that deploying cars that are just 10 safer than the average human driver will save more lives than waiting for those cars to be 90 or 70 better. We will be able to save lives in the future, but only if we move forward. Perfect must not be the enemy of the great. We dont have to wait for fully selfdriving vehicles to reduce the number of deaths. Driver assisted technology is already saving lives, avoiding accidents and paving the way for completely self driving innovations to come. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems can prevent 30 of all crashes, saving 10,000 lives a year. There are technologies that help drowsy and inattentive drivers stay focused and provide responses such as automatic braking and lane drift avoidance. The aftermarket industry provides a valuable service by allowing consumers to add these technologies to vehicles they already own. Congress and the department of transportation has already recognized the value of these vehicles. Last year, the self drive act, and the chair supported passed out ofd, this committee and the house unanimously. It would have given a jumpstart to adopting our Vehicle Safety laws to address self driving and made a huge difference in creating more opportunity for testing and development. Sadly, politics got in the way. Im encouraged by the continued efforts of the department of transportation and members of both sides of the aisle to move our country forward in advance this lifesaving technology. I ask you to continue your leadership. There are challenges. Much work remains to be done, but we are heading toward zero fatalities. Thank you. I look forward to your questions. Ms. Schakowsky mr. Levine, we will hear from you when we come back. Please come right back after votes. There are three votes. Thank you. In recess. Sunday on q a, blues musician Darrell Davis talks about his book clandestine relationships, where he details are friending ku klux klan members and convincing them to leave the organization. He was willing military kkkuflage and the initials on his chest. Embroidered across his break on his head were knights of the ku klux klan. He had a semiautomatic handgun. Was followed by mr. Kelly, the grand dragon in a dark blue suit. When a nighthawk entered the room and saw me, he froze. Mr. Kelly bumped into his back because the guy stopped short. They regained their balance and looked all around the room. I knew what they were thinking. They were thinking the death clerk gave them the wrong room number or this was a setup. I went like this to display my hands and i stood up and i approached him. I said mr. Kelly, my name is Darrell Davis, come in. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern on q a on cspan. The complete guide to congress is now available. It has details about the house and senate for the current session of congress. Information about congressional committees, state governors, and the cabinet. The 2019 congressional directory is a handy, spiralbound guide. Order your copy from the cspan online store for 18. 95. Houset, remarks by Intelligence Committee chair adam schiff at the council on foreign relations. He talked about foreign policy, national security, the Robert Mueller report, and ongoing threats from russia and china. This is just over one hour. Good morning. Welcome. Im the Senior Vice President at cnn. Todays meeting is on the record. First, a little bit about our guest. Congressman ship has represented californias Congressional District since 2001. He represents much of los angeles, including hollywood and pasadena
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.