In response to a request from Chairman of the Knesset Science & Technology Committee Uri Maklev, the government will be subsidizing the development and manufacture of systems intended to prevent additional loss of life, addressing systems that will warn a driver that a child is being left in a vehicle that is being parked.

The Finance Ministry has announced it would undertake subsidizing the development and manufacture of warning systems due to the alarming fact that children last year lost their life during the summer months as a result of being forgotten in a vehicle.

During the special session discussing the matter, Maklev reported six children died last summer as a result, adding there have been 440 documented cases of children forgotten in vehicles in the past eight years, of which 22 have died R”L. He stressed this occurs among normative good parents and it can happen to anyone and therefore, the development of systems alerting parents is essential.

The government has already decided a warning system will be mandatory in vehicle transporting children. One of the issues delaying approval of such systems is there is no standard in place. Israel’s Standards Institute, the Tav Teken, only has a standard for child safety seats so a standard must be developed before devices can be approved for the marketplace.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)