PETA Rallies Support for Hot Cars Act of 2019

Lifesaving Federal Bill Would Require Carmakers to Install Safety Features for ‘Spot and Tot’

For Immediate Release:
October 28, 2019

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

Because animals and children are still suffering and dying in hot cars, PETA has posted an action alert on its website asking members of the public to urge their congressional representatives to support the Hot Cars Act of 2019. The bill would require that automakers install technology in vehicles that detects the presence of a child or an animal and alerts drivers when someone is left in the back seat.

In the alert, PETA points out that such legislation is urgently needed, as five children have died in hot cars already this month, making it the most fatal October in history in terms of hot car deaths. More than 50 other children and at least 32 dogs have also died in parked cars this year, and another 115 animals were rescued just in time. Since these numbers include only the reported incidents, the actual figures are likely higher.

“This bill would go a long way toward keeping children and dogs from baking to death in cars, which essentially become ovens in the sun,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is asking compassionate people to come together and help usher the Hot Cars Act of 2019 into law.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—notes that on a 78-degree day, the temperature inside a parked car can soar to 100 degrees in just minutes, and on a 90-degree day, the interior temperature can reach as high as 109 degrees in less than 10 minutes. That’s why just a moment of forgetfulness—such as being distracted by running into a friend, taking a phone call, or being otherwise unexpectedly delayed—can quickly turn fatal for vulnerable children and animals.

In August, PETA sent a letter of support to the national child-safety nonprofit group KidsAndCars.org for working to pass the Hot Cars Act of 2019. PETA’s other recent efforts to combat the hot car crisis include launching an eye-catching ad campaign this summer titled, “Too Hot for Spot and Tot.”

PETA opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.