Italy demands car alarms warning parents their kids are still strapped after spate of hot car deaths
Italian transport minister Danilo Toninelli said the deaths were 'avoidable tragedies' that could be stopped with alarms that notify the driver's keys or smartphone
ITALY plans to make alarms warning parents that their kids are still strapped in the car compulsory, after a spate of hot car deaths in the country.
Danilo Toninelli, transport minister, demanded over the weekend that every children's car seat be fitted with an alarm that will sound on the driver’s electronic car keys or smart phone.
There have been several recent deaths in the country due to “forgotten baby syndrome” - absent minded parents forgetting that their children are in the car.
It’s estimated that one child has died in a hot car in Italy every year since 2011.
Last year, a 16-month-old girl near Arezzo was forgotten by her mother and left in a hot car in the sun for six hours.
The woman returned to her car and found that her daughter had died of a heart attack.
Toninelli said the recent deaths were “unacceptable” and an “avoidable tragedy”.
In a Facebook post, he said: “I’m a father who, like many, lives through complicated and stressful times that can cause distraction.
“No one can say that the life of a child is not worth €100.”
“We will take the proposal to the council of ministers shortly and we will assist people with the expense by making it tax deductible.
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“These are the measures that can really change people’s lives.”
Toninelli said that the measures, which could come into effect by autumn, would protect families and could be tax deductible.
They are expected to apply to children up to the age of 11.
Over 800 children have died in the United States due to forgotten baby syndrome in recent years - much higher than the number of deaths in Italy - but Toninelli said: “Even a single case in unacceptable.”
Earlier this year a child in Nashville, USA, died when she was forgotten and left in a sweltering car for hours.
A toddler died in Oregon, USA, earlier this year when she was left in the car for hours by her mother during a heatwave, so she could go to work.
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