Bill Nelson: “in the month of April, 16 children in this country have been backed over and killed by an automobile backing out of the…”

“in the month of April, 16 children in this country have been backed over and killed by an automobile backing out of the driveway. Each of us can visualize what I am saying right now because we have a car in the garage or in our home driveway, we walk around to make sure there are no obstructions and then get into our car, and we really don't know that a small child may, in fact, have gotten in the way. Last year, over 200 children in this country--in the United States alone--over 200 children were killed by these kinds of accidents. Last month, of the 16 who were killed nationwide, 3 of them were in Florida. I have had come to me moms and dads who have agonized and who have gone through the grieving of losing a child. A couple from Boca Raton, FL, who have spurred a national effort, came to me. Their child was only 5 feet in front of the mom, and out backs a car as they are walking down the sidewalk and it was too late; that child is gone. It is so easily fixable with our technology. If you rent an Avis rent-a-car and it is a high-end car, it already has a built-in device that has a sensor in the back. Higher end automobiles such as the Lexus have a television screen with a little camera mounted in the rear. The sensor emits a beep, and the frequency of the beep increases as you get closer and closer to an object. It is estimated that such a device may cost in the range of $50.…”