Bill protects ‘hot car’ rescuers

Anyone acting in emergency would be spared lawsuit.

Someone trying to rescue a child stuck in a hot car would be protected from civil lawsuits under a bill passed Tuesday by the Georgia Senate.

Senate Bill 34 comes after a number of high-profile incidents in Georgia of children being left in locked vehicles. Among them is the death last year of a 22-month-old boy in Cobb County. His father, Ross Harris, is being prosecuted and faces allegations that he intentionally left his son in a hot car to die.

In most cases, children are left unintentionally or even accidentally lock themselves inside, said the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Greg Kirk, R-Americus.

In Georgia, with the state’s average tempera- ture hovering around 82 degrees, “you close up a car for 10 minutes and the temperature rises 20 degrees” inside the vehicle, Kirk said. “I think Senate Bill 34 will help raise awareness and help the public become more vigilant.”

State law already tries to protect emergency responders, saying they should not be liable for civil damages for trying to do their jobs at the scene of an accident.

SB 34 would essentially extend that protection to anyone acting in an emergency by trying to free someone — including an adult — who is “incapacitated or endangered” in a locked motor vehicle.

The bill was approved on a 50-2 vote, and it now goes to the House for consideration.

The bill was approved on a 50-2 vote.