DoingItLocal

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, called for National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) action to address child deaths due to frontovers. Recent demonstrations by investigative reporters have shown blind zones in front of some cars to be as big as 16 feet, obstructing children from view and putting them at risk of being run over.

“I am extremely troubled that large blind zones in front of SUVs are reportedly causing senseless deaths of children. In such instances, called ‘frontovers,’ tragedy strikes because a child in front of the car is not visible above the car’s hood and no warning occurs,” wrote Blumenthal to NHTSA Administrator Dr. Stephen Cliff. “I am sure you agree that even one child’s death is one too many. I write to ask for an update on steps by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to collect and make public relevant data and stop these preventable frontover tragedies.”

While Congress mandated in 2007 that NHTSA issue a rule to establish rear visibility standards in response to countless backover accidents, no such front visibility standards currently exist. Front visibility technology such as cameras and sensors are offered by some manufacturers, but usually only on expensive, upgraded models or for an additional fee.

“Safety is not – and should never be – a premium feature only available to those who can afford it; it should be the default,” Blumenthal continued.

To better understand the scope of the problem and inform comprehensive solutions, Blumenthal called on NHTSA to publish up-to-date non-traffic incident data, which these preventable frontover tragedies would fall under, and inquired about steps the agency is taking to protect children and parents. NHTSA last published its non-traffic surveillance data summary in 2018, which only covered incidents through 2015. More comprehensive data was last published in 2015, but only covered incidents through 2011.

“This delay in more than a decade in releasing data is simply unacceptable. Recent, updated data is critical to understanding the true scope of frontovers and the steps that can be taken to prevent these unnecessary and tragic incidents,” Blumenthal emphasized, pressing the agency to outline the steps it has taken to reduce and prevent frontovers, and any additional authorities it would need to address this issue.

This press release was made possible by:

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) released the following statement after the Senate approved the Inflation Reduction Act, a measure to cut costs for consumers, lower drug prices, and make historic investments in clean energy:

“The Inflation Reduction Act is history-making and record-setting. This bill will save money, it will save lives, and it will help save the planet.”

“Our bill will cut costs for consumers. It will help families better afford groceries, gas, and utilities while billionaire tax cheats will finally have to pay their fair share. Democrats have fought for years to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices which will result in huge savings for seniors. This bill is the largest investment and most important action to fight climate change in history.”

“Every single American will benefit from this bill.”

“Despite the years of bipartisan negotiations that led to this bill, my Republican colleagues were categorically unwilling to support it when it actually came to a vote. Instead, they devised a series of bad faith amendments – in effect malicious poison pills. As they made clear, not a single one of their amendments would have changed their vote, which is why I opposed all of them to protect the integrity of the bill.”

Fighting Inflation and Cutting Costs for Consumers

The legislation will close loopholes that allow the biggest corporations to avoid paying taxes and invest in IRS resources to prevent ultra-wealthy tax cheats from gaming the system at the expense of Middle Class Americans.

The bill will invest $300 billion in deficit reduction.

Lowering Drugs and Healthcare Costs

The bill will empower Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, beginning with ten of the highest-costing drugs in 2023 and expanding to 20 each year by 2029. It will also cap out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries, saving seniors thousands of dollars each year.

The legislation extends the Federal Advance Premium Tax Credits, which reduced health care premiums by millions of dollars for residents of Connecticut.

Fighting Climate Change and Investing in Clean Energy

The combined investments in this bill represent the single biggest climate investment in U.S. history.

The legislation includes rebates to lower high energy costs. The bill also provides resources to help consumers afford technologies that will lower emissions and energy prices by, for example, purchasing new electric appliances or retrofitting their homes with more energy efficient systems.

The bill will increase American energy security by investing in domestic clean energy manufacturing, which will also create millions of new jobs.

The legislation includes major investments in both urban and rural communities that have previously been excluded from the benefits of the transition to a clean economy.

This press release was made possible by:

(WATERBURY, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he has signed into law Public Act 22-49, which will align Connecticut’s standards on childhood lead poisoning with federal standards and help alleviate the risks associated with it. The governor proposed the legislation earlier this year as part of his package of priorities for the legislative session, explaining that the state needs to proactively do a better job of protecting children from lead poisoning.

The governor discussed the importance of the new law today during an event on the topic in Waterbury, a city where 72% of its housing units were built before 1978, making the presence of lead likely now or in the past. Waterbury has embraced the issue of addressing lead in its housing stock over the last few decades by building a strong remediation program that received $5.7 million in 2020 – the largest possible federal grant – to assist in tackling this issue. Speaking in front of two homes that were recently remediated for lead, Governor Lamont emphasized the importance of lead remediation programs like Waterbury’s and a strong partnership between state and local health departments to combat lead poisoning in Connecticut’s children.

“Childhood lead poisoning has catastrophic impacts on health and development, including irreversible learning and developmental disabilities,” Governor Lamont said. “In particular, this problem has most deeply impacted minority families and those who live in disadvantaged communities. For too long, the standards for lead testing and treatment in Connecticut have fallen well behind the best practices, and I am glad we are making these long-overdue updates.”

The newly signed law includes steps that will strengthen early intervention in instances of lead poisoning by gradually reducing the blood lead level that triggers parental notifications and home inspections to more closely align with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and American Academy of Pediatrics. In 2020, 1,024 Connecticut children had a significant enough concentration of lead in their blood that those organizations would have recommended a home inspection. However, Connecticut law required only 178 investigations.

This press release was made possible by: