City and state officials are mobilizing in reducing hot car-related deaths following an incident where a pair of twins died from heatstroke after they were left in a car in Kingsbridge Heights for hours last month. The pair was left behind by their father.

Councilman Fernando Cabrera, whose district represents the neighborhood where one-year-old twins were left in a hot car for hours by their father, announced legislation aimed at preventing the deaths of children left to bake in unattended vehicles.

Exactly a week after one-year-old twins Luna and Phoenix Rodriguez were left for eight hours, as their father went to work at the James J. Peters Veterans Administration Hospital, Cabrera joined Sue Auriemma of Kidsincars.org and Donny Nordlicht, who represents car manufacturer Hyundai.

Cabrera, at a recent news conference, introduced a resolution to U.S. Congress and the State Assembly to pass legislation that would make it illegal to leave children unattended inside a vehicle. A second City Council resolution will urge the U.S. Senate to pass the Hot Car Act of 2019. He emphasized that this type of technology already exists, making it easy for the bill to become a reality. His resolution also increases “penalties when it comes down to having tinted windows.”

Cabrera continued, “We know in this particular incident the car had tinted windows. Who knows if a passerby could have seen the children.”

Auriemma said the deaths were, “Not an isolated event.”

“This has to do with the failure of the brain’s memory. It has to do with over-taxing our brains,” said Auriemma. She added that in about half of the cases, the parent believed they dropped the child off with a caregiver.

According to Auriemma, 900 children have died in hot cars since 1990 and last year that number reached a record 53 deaths in the United States.

Luna and Phoenix Rodriguez where the 22nd and 23rd hot car-related deaths in 2019.

In the week following since the deaths of the twins, child deaths have been reported in Florida, Texas, and Kentucky, bringing the total number to 26.

Cabrera’s resolution came on the same day as State Sen. Jamaal Bailey and Assemblyman Marcos Crespo jointly introduced a state bill mandating cars be equipped with detection technology.

“As a parent and legislator I can’t begin to fathom the pain and suffering of the family. But I can understand that this and similar tragedies could be prevented with existing technology that should be mandated in all new vehicles, alerting drivers of the possible presence of an individual or even a pet remaining in the car” said Crespo, in a statement.

Bailey, who represents Norwood said his bill is “forward thinking,” serving as a way to “prevent future tragedies as this from happening.”

“Technology does so much in our lives,” said Bailey. “Let’s use it to save innocent lives as well.”

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.