As of May 1, a new safety regulation has been enacted requiring all new vehicles to be equipped with rear view cameras, to keep from accidentally backing over a child.

Kira Huck of Safe Kids Missoula hailed the newly enacted regulation as a boon for kids’ safety.

“Back-over prevention is something that many people have been working on for years,” Huck said. “It’s meant to protect children from when they may be behind a vehicle, whether that’s at home in the driveway or in the parking lot at a store. Several organizations across the country, including Safe Kids Worldwide have been pushing for regulations for all cars to have some sort of back-up alert system to prevent these tragedies.”

Huck said other safety messages are also being communicated with the public.

“I was just part of the Heatstroke Town Hall getting all those organizations on the same page about heatstroke messaging for the year,” she said. “We’re heading into the summer months and we just want to ramp up our messaging about vehicular heatstroke prevention, which is particularly important over the summer months.”

Huck added her voice to many others advising western Montana residents not to drive through the flood waters, as well as to always wear seat belts and make sure that children are securely buckled into safety approved car seats.

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