Two Central Florida lawmakers proposed a pair of bills Monday that would require some type of alarm to alert drivers of day care vehicles if any children are left inside.
The bill comes after 3-year-old Myles Hill was left in a hot van by a day care worker in August and was found dead more than 12 hours later.
Myles’ grandfather, Corey Esters, was glad to see some action on the state level, but wondered why there wasn’t something like the child alarm bills already in place.
“It seems like nothing is getting done fast enough,” he said.
Esters met with Florida Sen. Linda Stewart and Rep. Bruce Antone Monday at the Orange County Administration Building as they presented their bills.
He came to support the bills in place of Myles’ mother, who, he said, was still grieving his death.
“You hurt, because what can I tell her? What can I do to ease her pain?” he asked. “There is nothing.”
Stewart said the bills’ goal was to make sure no other parents have to go through that type of pain.
“Too many (children) have died and we have ways of making this vehicle safer,” she said. “And that is what we need to do.”
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Esters hoped to see the bill move quickly through the state legislature.
“To save a child’s life, that is priceless,” he said. “If you get this issue and sweep it under the rug and there is nothing being done about it, tomorrow it may be somebody else’s kid.”
Stewart and Antone’s bills would also require the Department of Children and Families to adopt minimum safety standards and maintain a list of approved alarm systems.
If the bills are passed, the law would go into effect in July.
Cox Media Group
