Parents' loss spurs car-safety effort
Garland: Couple urging Congress to require rear-view cameras
10:03 PM CDT on Monday, May 23, 2005
By JOSH BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON ? Galvanized by the death of her daughter last fall in a driveway accident, Rachel Clemens is taking the issue of child and car safety from Garland to Capitol Hill.
KARL STOLLEIS/Special Contributor
Rachel Clemens and her husband are suing Nissan after the death of their daughter Adrianna. But the company says rear- view cameras aren't good substitutes for driver awareness. Today, Mrs. Clemens and other car safety advocates will lobby lawmakers to require automakers to install more safety devices on new vehicles to reduce child fatalities.
"My heart would not allow myself to grieve my daughter when this is the reason she passed away," Mrs. Clemens said. "If there's anyone who can do something or say something about this, it has to be a grieving parent."
In October, her 2-year-old daughter, Adrianna, died when the child's father accidentally backed over her while pulling out of the garage of their home in Garland. The child was too small to be seen behind the sport utility vehicle, and there was nothing to warn David Clemens she was there, Mrs. Clemens said.
Seeking something positive from her loss, Mrs. Clemens, 39, quit her job managing a dental office and began the Adrianna's Rule Foundation to increase awareness about vehicle design deficiencies that result in child deaths. She launched a Web site and hosted a golf tournament last month to raise money for her cause.
Going to court
In a lawsuit filed in state district court, the Clemenses are suing Nissan, the maker of their Infiniti SUV, for negligence for not installing rear-view cameras on their vehicles. The suit alleges the company knew of blind areas in its vehicles but did nothing to address them.
Nissan spokesman Kyle Bazemore said that though Adrianna's death was "very tragic," there is no merit to the lawsuit.
"The allegation is that the vehicle should have had a backup sensor and camera on it," he said. "But a backup camera is not a good substitute for turning around and looking behind the vehicle."
Garland police ruled the girl's death an accident.
Rear blind zones ? areas behind a car that are invisible to the driver ? have been growing in size in recent years. According to Consumers Union studies, the zones can range from 12 feet for sedans up to 50 feet for larger SUVs.
"Our vehicles today have no regulation that says what you're supposed to be able to see when you are backing it up," said Janette Fennell, founder of the child-safety advocacy group Kids and Cars. "And now blind zones have grown disproportionately, in particular on pickup trucks. That also applies to the front of the vehicle for some models that are so high."
At least 101 children were killed last year when vehicles backed up over them, according to Kids and Cars. Because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not track automobile-related fatalities occurring off public roads, Ms. Fennell said no one knows the magnitude.
New legislation would require such tracking. U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who's backing the measure, said he became aware of the issue after a constituent accidentally backed over his son and killed him.
"There was no way he could avoid what happened," Mr. King said. "People usually have the initial reaction that it was the parent's fault, that if the parent had been more careful it wouldn't have happened. But you can be the most careful parent in the world and this still happens."
The legislation would require rear visibility standards on new cars to give the driver an unobstructed view of the area immediately behind the vehicle. It also would require automakers to install safety devices preventing power windows from closing on a child. Last year, the NHTSA began requiring automakers to install safer window switches, though Consumers Union said more action is needed.
"It's a halfway measure," said Sally Greenberg, product safety counsel with Consumers Union. "It will bring down the number of incidents, but it doesn't solve the problem."
Expensive equipment
Carmakers have resisted efforts to require additional safety equipment because of the high cost.
Rear cameras installed at the dealership can tack on an additional $1,100 to the vehicle's price, said Roger Hooker, national sales manager for HitchCAM, a supplier of the devices.
Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said consumers can already choose to have the cameras installed.
"As more people see the utility of the technology, they will purchase it in their next vehicle," he said. "Our position is that automakers can make this technology available and consumers can choose."
But the idea that the market drives car safety is historically inaccurate, Ms. Greenberg said.
"People don't realize they need this until they back over and kill their child," she said.
Mr. King agreed that people will not opt for the devices until they must do so.
"It's just like with seat belts, just like with air bags," he said. "And this isn't just talking about the individual's safety; it's talking about the safety of their children or someone else's children."
Rear backup cameras are standard on some luxury vehicles but typically are advertised as parking aids rather than safety devices. The camera usually is mounted somewhere on the rear of the vehicle. When the vehicle is in reverse, a small TV screen inside shows drivers what is behind them.
Mrs. Clemens said she had never even heard of rear backup cameras or warning devices before her daughter's death.
"It's so sad because there is a solution and nothing is being done," she said. "It's so painful to continue talking about your story over and over again, but I have to share with people my grief. It's not only that we're grieving the loss of our children, but it's also that we're the ones killing our children."
Mr. King introduced a similar bill last year, but it didn't clear the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, has also introduced legislation. But the Senate bill calls for the government only to study the issue more and start tracking fatalities.
"We're tying to build up as much support as we can for this," Mr. King said. "I will continue introducing this bill as long as I'm a congressman."
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