Payton Baggett Reporting
pbaggett@clarksvillenow.com
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Nearly two years after five people died from carbon monoxide poisoning in their rented RV following the annual Toy Run held by Clarksville’s Bikers Who Care, friends and family of the “BWC5” are asking members of the community to sign their petition to make recreational vehicles safer for all who use them.
It is known that a working detector in the RV could have prevented the incident.
“After losing five wonderful people here, it’s an issue that we became aware of, it is not always guaranteed that rented RVs have working carbon monoxide detectors. Thirteen kids lost their parents that day, and my hope is that we can prevent a tragedy like this from happening in other parts of the country,” said CC Carmack of Q108, a close friend of one of the BWC5.
Carmack went on to say that those affected by Hurricane Sandy and other recent storms should be aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide as well, because in the wake of a disaster more people use generators and need to be aware of how to use them.
According to the web site hosting the petition, which was started by the mother of one of the victims, Tennessee passed the BWC 5 ACT (Bikers Who Care), Senate Bill # 2357 & House Bill # 2734 in the spring of 2012. U.S. House Chairman Bill Shuster and U.S. Senate Chairman Jay Rockefellar are now being petitioned to bring about federal regulation on this issue.
Though a seemingly simple change to make, detectors are, as Carmack put it, “a simple thing that can save lives.”
See the petition here.