Jul 30, 2007 9:14 pm US/Eastern
Advocates Call For Sensors To Detect Kids In Cars
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WASHINGTON (CBS4) ―
You might think it would be impossible to forget that you have left your car with a child in the back seat, exposed to temperatures which could hit 140 degrees, but the founder of Kids and Cars, an organization which tracks child deaths in cars, said it happens more then most people realize. Janette Fennell wants auto manufacturers to help change that.
Cars have sensors to warn when you've left the headlights on or the keys in the ignition, and if you forget to buckle your seat belts, you're certain to hear about it. But so far, there's no standard equipment to tell you that you've left a child in the back seat of a hot car.
Requiring such technology would translate into tens of millions a year in added costs to carmakers. But a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers in Washington, D.C., insists cost is not the issue.
Wade Newton, whose group represents BMW, Daimler-Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen, said no one has come up with a system that is immune to false alarms. He says the industry is constantly seeking safety improvements, but adds that all of these innovations "really work hand in hand with parental supervision."
"How many people died because their keys were left in the ignition, headlights left on?" asks Fennell, who tracks hot-car deaths as president and founder of Kids and Cars. "They have the opportunity to eradicate this as a cause of injury and death to children for a relatively low cost. Why not do it?"
"The issue is not the technology; the issue is getting it to market," says Jan Null, a San Francisco-area meteorologist who also tracks child hot-car deaths.
Among devices either on the market or in development which could possibly save lives are:
The Child Minder system 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 developing its Child Presence Sensor, which replaces the clip with 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.
Volvo's S80 sedan includes a Personal Car Communicator that can detect a heartbeat inside the vehicle and send a warning to the driver's wireless key fob.
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