Need Owners who are Parents to Contribute to Something Great

I'm not sure of a automotive interior motion device, but the solar ventilation on a 2010 Prius would alleviate some of the potential harm. If the asphalt parking lot temp is 130, that is what it will push into the car. That would still be cooler than a closed interior. I don't believe that someone lacking the facilities to realize the danger of leaving a child (or animal) in a car would have enough sense to buy a 2010 Prius though.

 

Pardon me if the tone of my comment offended you. I surely didn't intend to be offensive. Every time I hear of one of these incidents, I certainly feel sorrow and pain for the child, but I do feel anger for the person that would leave a child in the car. My "baby" (1 of 2) just turned 16. Our children were NEVER left in a car unattended. We live in a small rural area, but the child theft factor was always first in thought.

I commend you for volunteering to undertake a project like this. If it would have the capabilities of calling, texting, alerting the parent, I suggest it would have 911 capabilities too. My wife hardly ever has the ringer or vibration on her Blackberry enabled. It is usually buried in her purse and can't get to it to stop the noise quickly so she leave the sound off. In an instance like this, a secondary number that was guaranteed to be answered would be great.

 

What about just putting a weight sensor in the baby seat and front seats and tying that into the panic alarm that most cars have? If front seats sensors are off for more than x time (30 seconds, 1 minute?) or the doors are locked and weight sensor on baby seat is on, trigger panic alarm. Everyone nearby would also be alerted by the fact the horn is going off.

 

Hi Dan, your heart and intention is in the right place to want to help all parents. I think this is a serious problem that is not going to be solved by high tech, but by public education to raise awareness. Your cell phone calling and SMS idea is not a good approach, as there can be way too many variables that can go wrong. Phone out of coverage area, phone ringer not on, you left the phone in the car with the baby, or carrier delays on the SMS. It will only take about $200 in technology for automakers to put sensors in the car to detect humans or small humans being left unattended and send you warning or perform emergency ventilation of the car. But no automaker wants to do that because it is a high liability if their tech fails and they don’t want to be blamed for a baby’s death. Any aftermarket business that sells technology that claims to save life will also be subject to this liability when their products fail to performed as expected.

In the end, the solution is common sense. I took some time to think over all the things you and the other have said on this thread, and then a hundred different technology ideas went through my mind. Everything from automatic roof hatch that blows opens on its own for quick ventilation to crib bars on the windows, so the windows can be fully lowered and the child is still secure and protected inside. But these are all wrong directions. In the end, I think the most effective way to remind a parent that the child is still in the back seat or anywhere in the car is simply tie a leash, about 6 feet long, similar to a telephone's hand set coil, but made of very strong material that will not break, one end goes on your wrist, so that your hands and arms are still free to drive and do other things, and the other end goes on the child's car seat. (se sample picture of an approximate product idea) You are not going to be able to leave that car more than 6 feet without the leash pulling you back. This is a cheap and inexpensive solution. Yes, I do realize the parent still needs to be conscious and remembers to hook on the coil cord to be effective. But if we can remember to fasten the seat belts or strap a baby in, we can add that as part of the boarding routine.

Most of us will not even think if leaving our laptop exposed on the seat while the car is unattended, I think a baby is much more important than a laptop. Speaking of laptop, if you really want to throw some tech into the leash idea, and make it wireless. They already make laptop proximity alarms that go off when the transmitter is more than 5 feet away from the receiver. They are the size of a pager. One goes in your pocket, one is mounted permanently on the car seat. If you and the baby's seat are separated for more than 5 feet, a loud shrieking alarm goes off in your pants.

 

Here's an example of the laptop proximity alarms. Should be adaptable to guard your baby instead of your laptop.

Notebook Security Proximity Alarm Laptop

 

Perhaps there is simpler low tech method that can be integrated with the existing locking system. If I recall correctly, the car will not lock with the smart key inside. Perhaps a pressure sensor in the back could transmit a false "smart key" signal so the car could not lock with a person in the back.

Of course, then, this false "smart key" signal should not be able to start the car, otherwise anyone could steal the car by having an accomplice sit in the back seat!

This could give 2 safety features. First, when trying to lock the car if you forgot your child you would find that the car would not lock. Second, if you walked away a passerby could easily open the car. Admittedly, if I found a child locked in a car on a hot day I would just break the window.

It's not a perfect solution but it would not be too hard to implement, I think.

 

The most tragic cases I've heard of are not negligence, but honest accidents; sleep deprived parents who forgot that they were the ones dropping their kid off in daycare. I'd think a voice reminder that simply played "Check rear seat!" (like those obnoxious old "The door is ajar" warnings) upon stopping the car when it has determined the back seat may be occupied would be best.

How to determine the rear seat may be occupied... As infants weigh just about nothing, I would go with just using the rear door switches to arm it. If you opened the rear door within 5 minutes of starting the car, it will assume that you put your kid in there (or maybe your laptop bag, which you'll likely also want to remember). Then, when the key is removed from the ignition, the reminder plays (or the power door locks snap a few times, or the horn beeps when the front door closes - just some sort of reminder).

Certainly not fool proof, but it could be implemented almost for free. Not sure if it would be cursed as annoying though. Personally, the only time I open the back door before getting in to drive is when I'm putting something back there that I don't want to forget.

As for the more foolproof cell phone call for help, the tricky part seems to me to be detecting occupancy. I would expect weight to get false alarms frequently, and I doubt IR would do the trick (either prone to false alarms or blinded by the heat of the car relatively quickly). Maybe sound based - or would that be false trip prone too?

 

Fruzzetti, thank you for the post. I see where you are coming from and I can relate to just how hot the Prius can get. However I think that there will never be enough technology to correct the mental short comings of certain individuals.

I guess someone could come up with a way to have the windows roll down if the car detects weight in a car seat that has a car seat sensor installed, but I'm sure some Vicodin house mom could inadvertently get around this by accidentally dropping her beer bottle cap between the car seat and the sensor.

 

I liked this discussion on this Forum.
These types of incident often happens.

Thanks

stevel John

 

Just found this thread.

If the Op and others are still problem solving on this, I'd like to offer some different perspectives.

Firstly, anything you do with the smart key is going to limit usability to only people in new cars with sks.

what car features are in all cars when infants are in cars? car seats.

I think designing something that is connected to a car seat that can then detect high temperature and trigger a call to a cell phone would be more cost effective, meet the needs of a larger population and reduce false alarms.
It would need to have a weigh sensor activation in it ( so it only alarms if there is a child in the seat)
It could be programmed to first call a cell phone or secondary contact if temperatures rise to unsafe levels. You could also program it to then call 911 if the car seat is still occupied and the temperature reaches life threatening levels.

The first barrier I see is that parents will put things in a car seat that isn't currently occupied by a kiddo causing false alarms. The other possibility is a pet will crawl in the seat but in that scenario, all good, lets get the pet out of there too!

 

It seems a lot easier, and perhaps more foolproof, to just sound a buzzer when these conditions come up rather than call a cell-phone. What happens if the call doesn't go thru, the cell phone is off, etc. I would rather know about the problem when I lock the doors than get a call some minutes later (I'm the kind of person who forgets his cell phone at home, or does bring it but forgets to turn it on).

 

Yes, something along those lines.

Or, rather than triggering an alarm after the door is locked, have it so that you just cannot lock the door from the outside while the babysit is "loaded" -- just like you can't lock it if the key is in the car.. I think that would be a very simple reminder.

 

This solution doesn't rely on you answering a cell phone.

It is heartbreaking to read about these incidents but usually people don't leave their babies for a long time on purpose (although that happens, too). Many accidents happen just because people have a change of routine, are distracted, or just forget that the child is in the car. A simple beep and being unable to lock the car would serve as the reminder.