HLS 20RS-403 ORIGINAL
2020 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 36
BY REPRESENTATIVE HILFERTY
CHILDREN: Memorializes the U.S. Congress to adopt requirements that motor vehicles or
child restraint safety systems come equipped with sensor technology to alert the
driver about the presence of child
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To memorialize the United States Congress to take such actions as are necessary to adopt
3 requirements that passenger motor vehicles or child restraint safety systems come
4 equipped with sensor technoloy to alert the driver of the presence of a child in the
5 rear seat when the engine has been shut off.
6 WHEREAS, over nine hundred children have died since 1990 from heatstroke as a
7result of being left or forgotten in a hot car; and
8 WHEREAS, while the education on "hot cars" has increased, last year more than fifty
9children died in hot cars; and
10 WHEREAS, the death of roughly thirty percent of children that were left in hot cars
11was due to children that climbed into a vehicle, undetected, and became trapped.
12 WHEREAS, in an effort to eliminate the death of young children in hot cars, major
13automakers have agreed to equip vehicles with systems to alert drivers of the presence of a
14child in the rear seat by 2025; and
15 WHEREAS, these systems will either alert the driver of the presence of a child based
16on a rear door opening at the beginning of the trip or by ultrasonic sensors that detect
17movement of children and pets; and
18 WHEREAS, however, many safety advocates have cautioned that this is not enough
19to detect the actual presence of a child in the back seat; and
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HCR NO. 36
1 WHEREAS, Congressional Senate Bill 1601, Helping Overcome Trauma for
2Children Alone in Rear Seats Act of 2019, was introduced May 22, 2019, which requires the
3Department of Transportation to issue a final rule requiring new passenger vehicles be
4equipped with visual and audio alert systems for rear passengers; and
5 WHEREAS, further, the Act would require states to use a portion of highway safety
6program funds to educate the public on the risks of leaving a child in a vehicle; and
7 WHEREAS, it would also require the Department of Transportation to undertake a
8third-party study on retrofitting existing passenger motor vehicles; and
9 WHEREAS, Congressional House Resolution 3593, the "Hot Cars Act" of 2019, was
10introduced on June 28, 2019, which requires the Department of Transportation issue a final
11rule requiring that all new passenger motor vehicles weighing ten thousand pounds or less
12be equipped with an alert system that detects the presence of a child or domestic animal in
13a rear seat after the vehicle has been turned off; and
14 WHEREAS, the resolution further requires the Department of Transportation to
15consider requiring systems to detect the presence of an occupant unable to independently
16exit the vehicle and the presence of child who has entered the vehicle independently; and
17 WHEREAS, the resolution also requires the alert to include an auditory and visual
18alert to notify individuals inside and outside the vehicle of the presence of an occupant,
19which must include an interior haptic warning, or vibrations, and be activated when the
20engine is turned off and the presence of an occupant is detected; and
21 WHEREAS, additionally, the bill requires the Department of Transportation to enter
22into an agreement with a third party to independently perform a study on retrofitting existing
23passenger motor vehicles with technology to address problems of occupants left unattended
24in motor vehicles.
25 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
26Legislature of Louisiana does hereby memorialize the United States Congress to take such
27actions as are necessary to adopt requirements that motor vehicles or child restraint safety
28systems come equipped with sensor technology to alert the driver of the presence of a child
29in the rear seat when the engine has been shut off.
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HCR NO. 36
1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
2presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the
3United States of America and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 36 Original 2020 Regular Session Hilferty
Memorialize the U.S. Congress to take such actions as are necessary to adopt requirements
that motor vehicles or child restraint safety systems come equipped with sensor technoloy
to alert the driver about the presence of a child in the rear seat when the engine has been shut
off.
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