Hot Cars: Federal Legislation & Technology

Current and Pending Federal Regulations

After more than 1,100 deaths and 20 years of advocating for a federal safety standard to protect children and prevent hot car deaths, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which includes a mandate for action by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) aimed at preventing hot car tragedies in 2021. 

Sadly, the NHTSA is more than a year past the Congressional deadline (Nov. 2023) to publish the final rulemaking and hasn't even published the proposed rulemaking yet. The NHTSA estimated that the proposed rulemaking would be issued in April, 2025 and that delayed timeline was missed as well. Kids and Car Safety continues to push for this life-saving rule to be issued without further delay.

Without occupant detection in all vehicles, children will continue to die in hot cars.

TAKE ACTION: Move the Hot Car Final Rule Forward ASAP!