Janette Fennell’s (founder and president of Kids and Car Safety & TRUNC) personal trauma involving herself and her family led to her dedicated career in advocating for injury control and child safety. In 1995, her and her husband were kidnapped at gunpoint, stuffed into the trunk of their car, and driven to a secluded location where they were assaulted, robbed and left to die in the trunk of their vehicle. All this happened while the couple had no idea as to the whereabouts of their 9‐month‐old baby. They were quite fortunate to have escaped relatively unharmed. Since then, with tremendous perseverance, Ms. Fennell led a successful crusade to convince the powerful auto industry and the Federal Government that trunk entrapment was a significant problem. Happily now all vehicles 2002 or newer have trunk releases installed as standard equipment. We are not aware of ONE trunk entrapment fatality in a vehicle that contains the glow‐in‐the‐dark trunk release! Fennell’s campaign to make car trunks escapable is an excellent case study in the power of survivors to change public policy. Kids and Car Safety is the recognized leader and an expert in the nontraffic field and has appeared on programs such as Good Morning America, Dateline, Oprah, NPR, the TODAY Show, CNN, NBC Nightly News and countless other news media. Fennell has testified before Congress several times about the issue of child safety as it relates to automobiles. Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are aired to heighten the awareness about the dangers children face in and around vehicles. Education materials such as brochures, posters, window clings, etc. are available via the website. Kids and Car Safety also works to effect change through state legislation, making illegal the practice of leaving a child alone in a vehicle and has successfully passed bills in California, Nevada, Hawaii and Illinois. Federal regulations and legislation are sought to ensure the appropriate child safety design measures and technologies are implemented by auto manufacturers. Survivor advocacy is a very important aspect of our work so parents who are dealing with the horrific death or disabling injury of a young child can channel the force of their grief into preventive action. Below are a few examples of Kids and Car Safety’s successes.
• Kids and Car Safety (KACS) changed the entire transportation data collection philosophy and structure in this country. KACS is now recognized as the #1 authority about emerging and existing nontraffic incidents that injure or kill children.
• Internal trunk release mechanisms are now required in all vehicles with trunks. There has not been one fatality in the trunk of a vehicle with this glow-in-dark release!
• Safer power window switches are now required on all vehicles. Passengers won’t inadvertently raise power windows that can strangle children or cut off fingers with 40-80 pounds of force.
• KACS was the force behind legislation requiring our government to set a rear visibility standard so we no longer have to back up our vehicles blindly.
• You cannot take your vehicle out-of-gear unless you have your foot on the brake pedal is due to KACS’s efforts.
• KACS Public Service Announcements (PSAs) air EVERY day to educate consumers about the dangers of leaving children alone in or around motor vehicles.
• Data and background information provided by KACS was used as the basis for the Pulitzer Prize winning article, “Fatal Distraction.” This riveting article brought the issue of children inadvertently being left behind in a vehicle to a new level of understanding.
• Education materials such as brochures, posters, window clings, etc. are available via the website.
• ‘Look Before You Lock’ education cards for new parents have been distributed to hospitals and birthing centers nationwide to help educate parents at the very beginning of their child’s life. Kids and Car Safety has been and will remain in the forefront of raising awareness about this serious health and safety issue to change current behaviors and attitudes of parents and caregivers about the need to protect children in and around motor vehicles. We must continue to fuel a social norm change until America’s children are safe. For additional information visit http://www.KidsAndCars.org
