the rear seat belt reminder requirement is now scheduled to start moving through the cumbersome regulatory process in january but a final rule could be years awaywashington after their 16yearold daughter died in a car crash david and wendy mills wondered whether she would be alive if federal rules on rear seat belt warnings had been issued on time four years later with no rule and traffic fatalities spiking theyre still at a loss over the inaction the teenager was riding in the back seat of a car to a halloween party in 2017 just a mile from her house in spring texas when she unfastened her seat belt to slide next to her friend and take a selfie moments later the driver veered off the road and the car flipped ejecting her advt kailee died instantly her three friends who remained buckled walked away with minor scrapes a 2012 law had directed the national highway traffic safety administration an agency of the department of transportation to implement safety rules requiring car manufacturers to install a warning to drivers if an unbuckled passenger is sitting in a rear seat the agency had three years to act but the regulation wasnt done when kailee climbed into her friends car its one of more than a dozen car safety rules now years overdue according to an analysis by the associated press the evergrowing docket has become one of the biggest tests for the federal agency since its founding in 1970 when public pressure led by safety activist ralph nader spurred nhtsas mission to save lives prevent injuries and reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes advocates worry that the agency has lost focus and risks getting bogged down under president joe biden at a time of increasing road accidents and reckless driving during the covid19 pandemic we need a call to action said jonathan adkins executive director of the governors highway safety association he called the pandemic surge in accidents a car crash epidemic the rules backlog would only increase with the sweeping technological requirements included in a 1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill pending in congress from new breathalyzer devices that would disable a car if a driver is drunk to stiffer standards for reporting safety recalls advt currently the 600employee federal agency lacks a permanent leader its acting administrator is steven cliff a former deputy executive officer at the california air resources board which regulates auto emissions a key component of bidens climate agenda government should not take this long to act on safety said david mills who started a houstonarea foundation in kailees honor aimed at promoting seat belt safety the foundation keeps a list known as kailees angels of some of the teenagers around the country who died in car crashes after failing to buckle up its devastating to families he said the rear seat belt reminder requirement is now scheduled to start moving through the cumbersome regulatory process in january but a final rule could be years