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Lawmaker introduces bill aimed to prevent hot car deaths

Woman buckling child into car seat
Intel Free Press / Flickr CC / http://j.mp/1SPGCl0

A new bill could help prevent hot car deaths among children.

The legislation was introduced last week by state Rep. Robert Kosowski (D-Westland). It would require car manufacturers to install alarms in all new vehicles that alert drivers when there's a child left in the back seat.

According to noheatstroke.org, 737 children over the past decade have died in cars due to heat stroke.

"And we thought this alarm would be kind of a good mechanism to approach this really big problem," Kosowski said.

Kosowski said while he doesn't know why anyone would oppose making this a law, there could be some pushback when it comes to the issue of cost.

"While I do respect that, I also think for the small cost of this alarm, it’s a pretty cheap price to pay," he said.

Kosowski said there is still quite a bit of research needed to finalize details of the bill, but that it could be similar to a car's "no seatbelt" warning.

Paulette is a digital media reporter and producer for Michigan Public. She started as a newsroom intern at the station in 2014 and has taken on various roles in that time, including filling in as an on-air host.
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