Councilman Fernando Cabrera joined forces with safety advocates to push for legislation requiring cars to be equipped with back seat sensors.

The call for legislation comes after Juan Rodriguez, of New City, said he accidentally left his 1-year-old twins Luna and Phoenix in a hot car while he went to work at the VA hospital in Kingsbridge.

Carmaker Hyundai already has taken steps to equip some of its 2019 vehicles with the new safety mechanism. The way it works is when the key is taken out of the ignition, a dashboard signal alerts a driver to check the back seat. Sensors are also activated when the car is off and movement in the back seat is detected.

Susan Auriemma, of Kids and Cars, says forgetting a child in the back seat is more common than people think.

"The biggest mistake you can make is thinking that this cannot happen," says Auriemma. "It could happen to anyone. It's happened to hundreds of families since 1990. Over 1,000 children have died in hot cars."

Councilman Cabrera is also re-enforcing the city's ban on tinted car windows as well as pushing for legislation that would make it illegal to leave an unattended child in a car.

Cabrera says Congress needs to act now and pass legislation requiring all automakers to equip their vehicles with child safety alert systems.