Season and waves new technology reduce heatrelated deaths. Child who died after being left in a hot car. This is about 40 minutes. Ms. Schakowsky the chair now recognizes herself for five minutes or for an opening statement. Good morning and thank you for being with us today during todays hearing is about promoting auto safety and raising awareness about the threats families face on our nations roads and off the roads as well as we enter summer driving season. Threats ise vehicular heatstroke, when a child is left in a car. I would like to introduce two families who have endured those strategies and turned the pain into advocating to make sure no child ever dies in an overheating car. Harrison, froml personal, virginia, they are the parents of a child who died at 8, 2008months on july after being unknowingly left in a hot car. Hawley of charlotte, north , her child was four weeks old when he was unknowingly left in their family car. Fortunately, his parents realized quickly their mistake and rescued their baby boy. But just a few months later, one of his daycare classmates died in a hot car shortly after a erinsonth child in Community Also died in a hot car. There are far too many ways for errands to lose children that we cannot control. We have a duty, however, to do everything we can to ensure that parents do not lose a child when we can prevent that. 52 children died in heatstroke in cars last year. 52. Parentscases, the accidentally loving parents accidentally left their child in the car. Eight children died in hot cars so far this year. Just yesterday, a fivemonthold girl tragically died in a van sitting outside of her daycare. Education alone cannot solve this crisis. Even the most attentive parent can give this tragedy and inadvertently leave their child in a rapidly warming vehicle. A simple alert notification for parents that they have left their child in a car can save their lives. Yesterday, we had a press conference where several such technologies were displayed, proving that we have the technological skills that we need to prevent many of these tragedies. We do have to do an evaluation of those different technologies. You get a warning when you leave keys in the car. Or when you leave your lights on. Every new car should be equipped with technology to alert parents if they learn that a child is in the car. That is why im eager to reintroduce the hot cars act, and alsoressman ryan, with congressman keenan of new york, that new cars come equipped with an alert system. I also look forward tore exploring many other Safety Technologies, such as automatic emergency braking, departure warnings, and pedestrian detection. That exist today and can dramatically reduce the number of automobile fatalities and injuries. The deployment of these safety features is slow and often reserved for those willing to pay a premium for advanced technology in their cars. It is time for congress to take Decisive Action to keep families safe and we do have a track record of success. Last year, finally, rear backup cameras became standard in new vehicles, and an issue that i champion for a long time before it actually became the law and was enforced. Thanks to the commitment of the parents and children who worked to make sure that happens. I look forward to exploring how we can ensure all cars can be equipped with the best safety features, and i now yield to the ranking member, ms. Mcmorris rogers. Rep. Mcmorris rodgers thank you , madam chair, for your leadership on these important issues for many years and now is the chair of this subcommittee. Welcome to everyone. Today we will explore ways that we can protect families from dangers on our roadways than our roadways. As well as off our roadways as , as the chairwoman just outlined. First, thank you, mr. Harrison for being here. Your story is powerful and moving, and i want to commend you for your commitment to chase. Several auto makers have reduced instances children are left in cars head on. And there are several startups focusing on other technologies. I am committed to finding all paths to getting safe technologies into cars faster. Sometimes that means we need certainty, and sometimes the market needs space for innovation. Or both. This weekend is memorial day weekend, and it brings family and friends together. We honor who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. It also unofficially marks the start of the summer of vacation, and with more travel comes with more risks on the roads. In recent years, more than 300 people have died over the holiday weekend, and some estimate that the number could increase over this weekend. I encourage everyone here to be and everyone watching to be safe. Put your phone down. Focus on driving. Do not drive if you have consumed any alcohol or other drugs. If you feel different, drive different. Put on your seatbelts. Seatbelts save lives. Risks on our roadways also present safety concerns year round. Technology offers potential solutions to many of these safety concerns. Right now, advanced Driver Assistance Systems are in more cars that we drive every day. Those advanced systems include automatic emergency braking, lane departure warnings, crash Avoidance Technology, blind spot detection, vehicletovehicle communication, and so much more. 20 automakers have voluntarily pledged to include automatic emergency braking in virtually all new vehicles by september 2022. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety estimates that by 2025, these systems will prevent 28,000 crashes and 12,000 injuries. These systems are the Building Foundation and Building Blocks for selfdriving vehicles. We lose more than 37,000 lives a year on our roads, and according to the national Highway Safety administration, 94 of all accidents are due to human error. These include destructive driving driving under the , influence of alcohol or drugs, and even driving drowsy. The more we can safely automate the driving process, the more human error we can remove. As a result, we have greatly improve the safety of our roadways. In addition to drastically improving safety, selfdriving vehicles offered vast mobility benefits. People with disabilities, our elderly community, and those not served by traditional Public Transportation stand to gain so much from widespread use of self driving vehicles. Selfdriving vehicles promise to improve freedom and mobility for our communities. Selfdriving vehicle would make going to work, to the grocery store, across town to visit friends, or going to the doctor so much more easier. Selfdriving vehicles will restore independence and break down the transportation barriers for so many americans. They are also important for our global standing. Right now, the United States is the Global Leader in the innovation. To compete and remain a leader, we must do everything we can to advance the Safe Development and deployment of selfdriving vehicle technology. Other countries are moving full speed ahead. Some are even developing their own technology in our backyard. Almost a quarter of the Companies Testing in california are chinese. Earlier this year, i joined my colleagues, republican leader walden and representative latta, in continuing the bipartisan work of the Safe Development of selfdriving cars. I want to think the chairwoman for holding this important hearing for us to explore ways in which we can improve auto safety and save lives. Thank you, and i yield back. Rep. Schakowsky the gentlewoman yields back. And now i recognize chairman sloan for five minutes for his opening statement. Rep. Sloan thank you, madam chair. This hearing is timely, as memorial day weekend is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. Millions of americans are taking to the road to travel to barbecues and beaches, including many heading to the jersey shore. This could be a dangerous weekend, too. Nearly 300 people died in crashes on memorial day weekend in 2017. As temperatures rise, so does the risk of heat stroke for infants in cars. In 2017, more than 40 people died as a result of a Motor Vehicle accident and 4. 6 million were injured. Motor vehicle death rates have increased since 2014 after a decade of falling. It is a troubling trend suggesting we need to double down on the efforts to improve our safety of our roadways. Technology exists which will improve safety, but we must find ways to get them in hands of all drivers. Take, for example, heat stroke victims in last year, that many died after being left in hot cars. Over the last 20 years, 802 children have been lost from these types of tragedies and more than half of those deaths occur when a distracted parent accidentally leaves their child in a vehicle. This is a heart break that mr. Harrison knows too well. Mr. Harrison, i am sorry for your loss and i thank you for sharing your sons story in the hopes that we can stop these types of accidents. There are ways we can prevent kids from dying from vehicular heatsroke. This crisis requires action. Just yesterday, there was another death in florida after a baby girl died after being left in a day care van for several hours. That is why i applaud the chairwoman and others for their work on the hot cars act, which will require vehicles to be equipped with Safety Technologies these kinds of technologies hold the promise of saving lives and reduce the number and severity of auto crashes. Crash Avoidance Technology is like automatic emergency brakes, rear automatic braking, blind spot detection and lane departure warnings are proving to reduce crashes. Similarly, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates that adaptive headlights, which automatically channel light around curves would prevent up to 90 of nighttime crashes. These headlights are available overseas but are not legal in the u. S. And yet, not much has been done to encourage automakers to make Life Saving Technology standard. If an automotive feature or technology proves it can save lives, it should not be a luxury reserved for those who can afford to buy the high end cars. The National TransportationHighway Safety administration is even failing at incentivizing manufacturers to adopt safety features. The new Car Assessment Program provides ratings on a scale from 15 stars for vehicle performance and crash and rollover tests. This rating is supposed to be a tool that helps consumers make more informed decisions when purchasing their vehicles and encouraging manufactures to exceed minimum safety standards. The safety field has become a participation trophy. 99 of 2016 models received four or five stars, the highest rating. The very integrity and value of the rating is undermined if the certification does not draw meaningful distinction between the safety of different vehicles. It is also not meaningful if the certification fails to provide technology being deployed on automobiles. Unfortunately, the five star safety rating does not account for advanced crash avoidance technologies such as forward collision morning and blind spot detection. Nthsa started to update the program in 2015 and have yet to make needed changes. We must modernize the rating for modern autos so consumers can identify and purchase the safest cars. I thank our witnesses for testifying this morning. Madam chair, i want to say that i am impressed by all the hearings you have been having, and the initiatives that are coming forward on consumer protection. I think that has been neglected in the past. Youre making sure that we deal with consumer issues that they are at the forefront. Thank you. Ms. Scharkowsky thank you mr. Chairman. In lieu of the ranking republican, mr. Latta is recoginzied. Thank you, madam chair. Thank you for moving todays hearing. I want to thank all of the witnesses for being with us today. As i mentioned, this weekend is memorial day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. Summertime means school is out. Families across the country are hitting the roads for vacation. It can also mean more inexperienced Drivers Behind the wheel, added congestion, and increased on productive ability on our roadways. Today, we have the opportunity to discuss the bipartisan efforts this subcommittee can mandate that can make for the developing and implement of different technologies that have the potential to address some of these concerns and save thousands of lives. In 2016, more than 37,000 people lost their lives on u. S. Highways. 94 of the accidents are attributed to human error, including driver distraction. I believe there are technologies we can utilize to prevent the loss of life during the summertime driving season and anytime. Today, many cars are equipped with active safety features or semiautonomous driving systems. These systems, known as advanced Driver Assistance Systems, help traversed in their lane, pass a slowmoving vehicle, change lanes, avoid front end collisions and even park. They display the technologies in place to address auto safety concerns and are the foundation for the deployment of self driving vehicles. In my last congress i introduced with chairman schakowsky the bipartisan act that legislated regulated self driving vehicles, provided muchneeded updates for outdated statutory and regulatory barriers and insured that the National Transportation safety ministration gets the data it needs, also while improving safety and mobility for those with disabilities, and those underserved by inadequate Public Transportation. Included in the legislation was to spur innovation around technology to help prevent the tragedy of a child from losing their life in a vehicle. U. S. Companies are investing major resources in the research and deployment of these technologies. The self drive act would have provided muchneeded certainty and updates to existing rules to unleash innovation. Earlier this year, i joined Republican Leaders and requesting the chairman of the full committee that this Committee Stay focused on this issue. I believe our work on the self drive act was an example of this committee at its best, working together in an open process on technology that will save lives. Since the legislation passed unanimously in committee and on the house floor, it is my hope we can make this issue a priority again in this congress. Within this subcommittee, our chair has worked tirelessly for technology to prevent the tragedies we have heard about when a child is left in a hot car. I commend her for her work and stay committed to working with her in a bipartisan way to implement policies that could reduce these tragedies. We have an opportunity toward work toward endless toward ending senseless deaths on our roads making investments in technology. I want to think our members and staff on both sides of the aisle for their work on this issue. I think the gentlelady and yield back the balance of my time. Ms. Schakowsky i thank the gentleman. I want to assure you that we will be working in a bipartisan way on Autonomous Vehicles but also the safety protection bills. Come on asyone will a cosponsor of the hot cars act. Now, it is my privilege to introduce our witnesses today. I did want to point out that there is a slightly different feature available today. Those are boxes of tissue. We are dealing with a very sensitive issue today. Our witnesses are miles harrison, the father of chase harrison. Nel, the president and founder of the kids in cars organization. Gary shapiro, president and ceo of Consumer Technology association. And jason levine, executive director for the center for auto safety. I want to thank our witnesses for joining us today. We look forward to your testimony. I failed to mention that all members can submit for the record opening statements. At this time, the chair will recognize each witness for five minutes to provide their opening statement. I think most people here understand the light system. You have a series of lights. A light will be green at the start of your opening statement. The light will turn yellow when you have one minute remaining. Please begin to wrap up testimony at that point. The light will turn red when your time has expired. Mr. Harrison, again, very grateful for you to be here. I know this is difficult. We all do. You are recognized for five minutes. Mr. Harrison thank you very much. And for everyone here, thank you for your time. 11 years ago, it was a typical day in my home. Everyone getting up and getting ready to head out the door, as well as myself, getting ready to go to work. Like many parents, i was multitasking, thinking of all the things to do during the day. We were rushing around, not very organized. My world changed forever that day. When i went to my office, i was focused on all of the work problems that people typically focus on. The day flew by. I went out to lunch with my boss and we talked about all the problems, all the pressures. Having no idea what time it was, at the end of the day, a colleague of mine came to my Office Around 5 00 and said, hey, do you have a doll in your car . I said, a doll . What are you talking about . It was then that i realized, oh my god, oh my god, what have i done . I ran outside of my office and rushed to my car. I saw my son chase through the window. I threw open the car door and grabbed him and rushed into my office, carrying him and screaming, oh my god, oh my god. Not dropped him off at the daycare. I was so distraught and upset i could not see straight. I was taken by ambulance to the emergency room. I remember a nurse asking me if i wanted something for the pain. I said, i dont deserve that. I need to feel all the pain. From the hospital, they took me to the police station, where the police insinuated that i had murdered by son. The first thing i asked me is if i had Life Insurance on my son. I did not even think about that. From the police station, i was taken to a hospital, where