Car makers can prevent baby deaths, coroner says

MONTREAL — Two years after a baby died of heatstroke when he was forgotten in a car on a sweltering day, a Quebec coroner is calling for all vehicles sold in Canada to be equipped with an alert system to prevent similar tragedies.

Denyse Langelier said existing technology such as weight sensors, cameras or alert messages could save lives, but there is no rule in place requiring manufacturers to install them.

In an age when cars come equipped with an increasing array of high-tech gadgets, she says there’s no reason they can’t also come with a reliable system to remind parents of their children’s presence.

“We have alerts if someone is in the front seat next to us, if someone is in front of us, and the manufacturers aren’t capable of finding a mechanism or system for their base model cars?” she said. “I think there will have to be an effort that is made so that they are installed, that it gets done.”

Langelier made the recommendation as she released her report into the death of a baby who was left in a hot car north of Montreal in August 2016.

The 11-month-old infant was found lifeless in a car seat several hours after his father forgot to drop him off at a daycare.

According to the report, the father left the home with his three children at about 7 a.m. on the morning of Aug. 17. But after dropping off the older two children at camp, he went home instead of to the daycare.

The mistake was only noticed about 4:30 p.m., after the father went to pick up the child from the daycare and realized he’d been left in the car instead.

The report concluded the child died of hyperthermia on a day when the temperature outside ranged from 25 C to 28 C. The death was ruled accidental.

It’s unclear how many children die of heatstroke in hot vehicles in Canada every year.

Langelier said parents can easily get distracted or switch to autopilot if they’re tired.

“It’s important for parents not to think it couldn’t happen to them,” she said.