New safety system will prevent children from being forgotten in cars
Police will begin enforcing the new reform in January next year, in order to allow drivers to prepare in advance.
By TOBIAS SIEGALThe ImprisWay device used in driving(photo credit: INPRIS)
Israeli parents will be required to install safety systems meant to prevent cases of children being forgotten in cars starting August, Ynet reported.The decision was approved by the Knesset's Finance Committee on Monday.Police will begin enforcing the new reform in January next year, in order to allow drivers to prepare in advance. The cost of the system is expected to reach hundreds of shekels.Drivers caught without the system will be fined NIS 250 and four penalty points. Installing the system will be mandatory for two years, during which the Transportation Ministry will need to collect data and prove its efficiency. The system was proposed a couple of months ago, after what seemed like a pandemic of children being forgotten in cars across the country. And public pressure put on decision-makers followed, with a public demand to finally address the issue.Several suggestions to regulate a system that would prevent such cases from happening in the first place were made in the past, but none were actually legislated, making this reform the first of its kind in Israel. According to data published by the Beterem - Safe Kids Israel, a non-profit that promotes child safety in Israel, nearly 900 children were forgotten or locked in cars since 2010. Some 32 of those cases ended in the child's death.
