Vehicle incidents are the #1 killer of children in the United States
From the trunk of a car to the halls of Congress
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Janette Fennell's survival story led to her dedicated career in advocating for injury control and child safety. In 1995, Janette and her husband were kidnapped at gunpoint, forced into the trunk of their car, and driven to a secluded location where they were assaulted, robbed, and left for dead in the trunk of their car.
The couple had no idea as to the whereabouts of their 9-month-old baby who had been in the back seat when they were kidnapped. After a terrifying ride through the streets of San Francisco and beyond, the Fennells clawed their way out of the confines of their trunk and were later reunited with their infant son who had been left alone in front of their home. Miraculously, they all survived.
Ms. Fennell went on to lead a successful campaign to convince the powerful auto industry and the federal government that trunk entrapment was a significant problem. Her persistence paid off when a federal regulation was issued and an internal trunk release mechanism became standard equipment in all vehicles that are model year 2002 or newer and sold in the United States.
The best news of all is that not one person has died inside the trunk of a car that has this internal trunk release mechanism. Nada! Zilch! Zero. This small piece of glow-in-the-dark plastic that now hangs inside the trunk of vehicles has saved countless lives.
After her success in bringing trunk entrapment to the national agenda, Ms. Fennell was contacted to assist on issues such as power window strangulations, backovers, hot car tragedies, vehicles being inadvertently knocked into gear by children alone in cars, etc. Astonishingly, similar to trunk entrapment, these types of incidents occurred on private property and data was not being compiled anywhere.
Kids and Car Safety was formed to eliminate these little-known, yet widespread vehicle dangers and to protect children both in and around vehicles from these preventable tragedies. Kids and Car Safety was the first and only organization to not only recognize nontraffic dangers (nontraffic meaning anything that happens off of a public roadway), but also to begin collecting data and bring national attention to these incidents.
We collect and analyze data on incidents that occur off public roadways to identify risks and trends.
We provide public education programs and awareness campaigns to prevent tragedies.
We advocate for laws and regulations at state and federal levels to protect children.
We work with automakers to implement safety features and redesign dangerous components.
We help families channel their grief into positive change through survivor advocacy programs.
Through our work, we have successfully advocated for:
