Bill proposed to decrease hot car deaths

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - A bill in Montgomery is taking a new approach to protecting your kids from your own forgetfulness by requiring your daycare to call you if your child doesn’t show up.

53 children died after being left in hot cars last year, according to KidsandCars.org.

Representative Randy Wood hopes his bill, House Bill 16, will help that number drop significantly.

According to the bill, if your child doesn’t show up to daycare by 9:30 that morning, the daycare worker will call you. Representative Wood says the reminder call may be a lifesaver to a parent who may have unintentionally forgotten to drop their child off. The bill is named the Cash Edwin Jordan Act in memory of a young child who died after he was left in a car last September.

“With the hustle and bustle of working. Your wife is sick or your spouse is sick. You’ve never taken the baby to daycare. You get on your cellphone and get busy. People are human. It could happen,” said Rep. Wood.

Some daycare workers say it’s a great idea to add another safety level for children.

“If that could be saving a child’s life, just from making a courtesy call, it’s definitely worth it. I think parents would appreciate it,” said Ava Young, Co-owner of Metropolitan Day School.

Representative Wood say he plans to make either amendments to the bill or a possible substitution, making it a suggestion and not a mandate for daycare workers so that they don’t become liable in the event a phone call is not made.

The bill has already been submitted and will be discussed when the next legislative session begins on February 4th.

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