Today, two senators called on carmakers to reinforce automobile seatbacks.

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Odyssey minivan was rear-ended at fifty-five miles an hour. Her father`s

seat broke and fell backwards on top of her. Taylor`s mother Liz.>

CHARLIE ROSE: Today, two senators called on carmakers to reinforce automobile seatbacks. It is a simple fix that could prevent serious injuries or deaths in crashes. Transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave has been looking into this.

(Begin VT)

LIZ WARNER (home video): Taylor.

KRIS VAN CLEAVE (CBS News Transportation Correspondent): Sixteen-month-old Taylor Warner was killed when her family`s Honda Odyssey minivan was rear- ended at fifty-five miles an hour. Her father`s seat broke and fell backwards on top of her. Taylor`s mother Liz.

LIZ WARNER: And it was all because of some stupid car that we thought was the safest thing we could, you know, get for our family to protect them.

KRIS VAN CLEAVE: Crash test video shows seats can fail in rear-end collisions, launching the front seat occupant into the back of the vehicle. Our investigation found more than one hundred people, mostly children, have been severely injured or killed by seatback failures since 1989.

SENATOR ED MARKEY: Without CBS, this is just one other safety issue that might have stayed under the rug for another generation.

KRIS VAN CLEAVE: Today, Democratic Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal sent this letter to Honda and sixteen other automakers demanding answers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sets the standard for seat strength, and all cars meet or exceed it, but it`s a standard so low this banquet chair passes.

MAN: It`s two hundred.

KRIS VAN CLEAVE: And Markey says it would only cost a few dollars per vehicle to fix.

SENATOR ED MARKEY: That a no-brainer. That`s something that the auto industry should do itself. But if it doesn`t, then NHTSA should make them do it.

KRIS VAN CLEAVE: NHTSA says it does not have enough data to support changing the standard, but Administrator Mark Rosekind acknowledged the number of deaths due to seatback failures have likely been underestimated by the agency.

MARK ROSEKIND: We need to figure out for anyone that`s been lost, what else we can do. NHTSA is going to look at every tool we have available to try and save them.

(End VT)

KRIS VAN CLEAVE: NHTSA and safety experts do agree that the backseat of a car is still the safest place for children. Charlie, automakers say their cars are safe. They have until June 23rd to respond to the senators.

CHARLIE ROSE: Thanks, Kris.

Still ahead, we`ll be back with more news in a moment.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

CHARLIE ROSE: The Italian navy released chilling photos today of a boat loaded with migrants tipping over off Libya. Those on board had rushed to one side when they spotted the Italian ship. At least five drown, but more than five hundred were rescued.

Today, eleven states filed suit to overturn the Obama administration`s directive that calls on public schools to give transgender students access to bathrooms that match their new gender identity. It is not an order, but states that do not comply could lose federal funding.

The lights went out at lunchtime in Seattle today. The giant Ferris wheel came to a halt. With traffic lights down, pedestrians had to weave in and out of intersections. Power was back within an hour.

We`ll be right back.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

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