U.S. Senate Bill 4452 "Tristan's Law" was introduced, in part, in response to the tragic death of Tristan Barhorst, age 10, on June 12, 2020 when he was struck by a motor vehicle after purchasing ice cream from an ice cream truck. After Tristan's death, Connecticut passed a law requiring that ice cream trucks be equipped with certain safety equipment, such as a stop sign and flashing lights to alert passing drivers of the presence of children. The law also requires drivers to stop, and if safe, to pass the stopped ice cream truck at no more than 5 mph. The cost to equip a truck is minimal (and many trucks already have the safety equipment), and traffic is not obstructed as drivers are permitted to pass slowly. S. 4452 is a Federal Bill introduced by Senator Blumenthal that seeks to incentivize other states to pass such a law as was passed in CT, by allocating 1% of the National Priority Safety Program's allocated funds to states that adopt similar laws to protect frozen dessert truck patrons (and ice cream truck drivers and passing motorists for that matter). Please know this is not political. Our CT Republican Senators and Representatives were the driving force in introducing this state legislation in CT, and they worked with their Democratic Senators and Representatives and garnered over 56 co-sponsors, Republican and Democrat alike, and the bill passed unanimously in a bi-partisan fashion. We thank all of Connecticut for the overwhelming amount of support, and look forward to continuing these efforts nationally. Tristan's Law presents an opportunity for us to stand united in an effort to protect our children, our future.
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