System could help save children from hot cars

With everything going on in peoples’ daily lives, it seems that even the most obvious things sometimes get forgotten — like children in the backseat of a car.

Most of the time, the parent or caregiver quickly realizes the child was left behind and promptly retrieves them. Unfortunately, sometimes the adult doesn’t remember the child in the backseat and walks off, leaving them inside a locked car. The outcome is sometimes tragic, especially if it’s hot outside. This year, 17 children have died after being left in hot cars, according to an ABC News report.

“Since 1990, more than a thousand children have lost their lives,” the report said. New technology could change that.

An alarm in the 2022 Genesis GV70 vehicle could potentially be life-saving, according to the manufacturer. The radar system is hidden inside the roof of the vehicle, above the back seat and can detect a child, even if the only movement is a soft breath.

“You want something that is more fine tuned and able to detect even those small motions that we’re making just by being a human, by breathing and our chest moving,” Dr. Emily Thomas, an automotive safety engineer with Consumer Reports told ABC News.

The systems also sends driver notifications on their phones, if they have downloaded the Genesis app.

However, there are some drawbacks.

“The biggest shortcoming is that the system only works once the vehicle has been locked,” Thomas said.

Despite the shortcoming, other vehicle manufacturers are also experimenting with occupant alert systems. GM and Ford have unveiled similar systems, however, the read door has to be opened at some point during the trip so the system will be activated.

There’s an infrastructure bill before Congress that would make hot car alert systems mandatory in all new cars, according to the ABC report.

“That is really what is needed to put an end to these terrible and unthinkable tragedies,” Janette Fennel, founder and president of KidsandCars.org, told ABC.

But is it what is really needed? While this technology is a great way to help busy parents, there are more traditional ways of ensuring a child isn’t left in a car. For example, a driver could create a routine in which they check the backseat during every ride, regardless of whether they have a passenger. As we drive, we check the rearview mirror often, surely drivers can see a child in the backseat when doing that.

Perhaps technology is the cause of this type of forgetfulness in the first place. Isn’t it ironic that we need more technology to fix the issues caused by cell phones and other types of tech that distract us while driving?