Florida Push to Make Safety Alarms in Day-Care Vehicles Mandatory

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan. 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ATWEC Technologies, Inc. (OTC Markets: ATWT), a leader in the child safety industry, today announced that a Florida state representative is renewing efforts to make it mandatory for child care centers statewide who transport children to install safety alarms in their vehicles, after legislators failed to pass a similar bill two years in a row.

Rep. Lori Berman, D-Lantana, filed House Bill 111 in Tallahassee last week.  Known as the "Haile Brockington Act", in honor of the Delray Beach toddler who died in 2010 after she was forgotten for nearly six hours in the back of a hot day-care van, the bill would require child care facilities to install alarm systems that alert drivers to check the vehicle for children left behind.

"We should not have to wait until innocent children die to realize the urgency; these deaths are preventable," Berman said in a statement.  "I continue, as I have the past two years, to implore my colleagues in the legislature to pass this bill.  Their inaction has continued to raise the risk that more children may die due to being left behind."

Thirty-one children in the US died in 2012 after being left in cars, three of them in Florida, according to records from San Francisco State University's Department of Geosciences.

If passed, HB 111 takes effect July 1, 2013 and requires day-care center vehicles to be equipped with an alarm system approved by the state Department of Children and Families by January 2014.  In addition, DCF must maintain a list of approved alarm manufacturers and systems, which ATWEC Technologies, Inc. is included.

Since Haile's death in August 2010, Berman and state Senator Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, have tried unsuccessfully to pass bills making child care van alarms a state law.

Palm Beach County commissioners in 2011 became the first in the state to require alarms in vehicles designed to carry six or more children.

If a center is in violation, the owner will receive a notice and have a 7-10 day period to correct the issue.  If the center does not comply, or if there is a combination of issues, it can be told to cease transporting children, said Tim O'Connor, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Health Department, which regulates child care facilities.

The law took effect in January 2012, and of all the facilities that requested license renewals for 2013, only two were not in compliance during an inspection, O'Connor said.  The facilities have since installed van alarms.  O'Connor added that if the state passes a mandate, the county would likely adopt a regulation that is most stringent.

Shareholders and other investors can find information on the proposed Florida legislation posted on the Company's website home page, www.atwec.com.

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About ATWEC Technologies, Inc.:
ATWEC Technologies, Inc. is a child safety and security company, headquartered in Memphis, TN.  ATWT has developed unique child safety devices which protect children while they are being transported, both to and from schools, events, and homes.  ATWT has been issued patent number 7,646,288,B2 by the US patent office, and its business model is associated with legislation designed to mandate these systems for school and other vehicles, on a state-by-state basis.  The Company trades on the Pink-OTC Markets under the symbol "ATWT", and the Company's website is www.atwec.com.

CONTACT:
ATWEC Technologies, Inc.
Alex T. Wiley, CEO
[email protected]
901-324-7089

SOURCE ATWEC Technologies, Inc.