The Minister of Transport, Infrastructures and Road Safety, Yisrael Katz, said Monday that his ministry asked the Standards Bureau two weeks ago to formulate an Israeli standard for cars that includes a special electronic system to sound an alert if a child has been forgotten inside the vehicle.
The minister instructed his staff to speed up the process of formulating the standard, in order to have it approved as soon as possible.
In addition, Katz spoke to the Prime Minister, who agreed that the new system will be included in the tax incentive package that encourages the sale of vehicles with safety systems.
The minister said that his ministry will also make it mandatory for vehicles that transport groups of children to install such alarms.
The Israeli Stabdards Institute is in the process of setting an Israeli standard for safety systems that will prevent a bus driver from locking the bus doors at the end of a drive before carrying out a comprehensive check of the vehicle.
In addition, the National Authority for Road Safety will start a wide scale advertising campaign for enhancing parental awareness of the danger of forgetting a child in a car. The subject will also be placed in the material that is studied in courses for preventive driving, and theory tests for new drivers.
An emergency session will be held in the Knesset to discuss the subject.