WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. senator on Friday asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to address the risk of unseen children being struck by sport utility vehicles (SUVs.)
Senator Richard Blumenthal, who serves on the committee overseeing NHTSA, said the rising size of SUVs are leading to larger frontal blind zones that make some children not visible above the hood. Congress previously mandated cameras to address rear backover crashes and Blumenthal said “a similar, simple solution of front visibility standards could help prevent these deaths.”
He wants NHTSA to release incident data saying it “is critical to understanding the true scope of frontovers and the steps that can be taken to prevent these tragic incidents.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson)