All Cars, All the Time

Hot Car Deaths: What Can Be Done?

Recently in the Bay Area a father came to a horrible realization: he had left his 11 month old son in the family minivan for more than six hours. Undoubtedly this event will haunt him for the rest of his life. What can technology due to prevent such tragedies?

The first thought in my mind is Volvo’s Personal Car Communicator that has a heartbeat sensor. However this device was primarily designed for owners returning to the vehicle to see if someone is inside. From what I’ve read it only works within 300ft of the vehicle and you have to be looking at the fob to see the warning. It would seem to me that you could modify this system to product children and pets. You already have the heartbeat sensor and you also have an interior temperature sensor in the HVAC system. Why not combine the two? If there the temperature is over X degrees for X amount of time with a heartbeat present the car alarm begins to sound.

There is a system called Child Minder that replaces the car seat's harness clip with a smart clip synchronized to a key ring alarm. The unit is activated when the child is buckled in. As long as the child remains in the seat, an alarm will sound if the adult walks more than 10 feet from the automobile.

NASA is also working on a Child Presence Sensor, which places a weight-sensitive pad that fits under the car seat cushion. An alarm sounds 10 warning beeps if the driver moves too far away from the vehicle, and beeps continuously if the driver doesn't return within one minute.

Sadly at least 15 small children have died so far this year nationwide after being left in hot vehicles, according to a study published in Pediatrics, the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics and updated July 12. Last year, 29 children died, and 42 died in 2005, the study said.

Certainly there is personal responsibility involved here somewhere, but we all make mistakes. If my next car costs me $100 extra to prevent a parent, or pet owner, from ever suffering this sort of anguish I’d gladly pay it.