Some auto manufacturers are combatting this problem better than others, but it’s still not enough
If the auto manufacturers have signed on to have safer systems in place by 2025 model year, the problem is solved, right?
This is advancement, but it isn’t enough. It fails to address if a child has entered a car on their own, and our brains also get conditioned to chimes and alerts very quickly. Something you see every time you turn off your car can rapidly be thrown into the “got it” bin in your brain and be dismissed. These systems can also be deactivated, and some advocates argue that self-selection of safety features is not enough.
How can auto manufacturers help ensure children don’t get left in cars?
Is it thirty bucks? I don’t know. But look to Hyundai, Kia and Genesis to lead the way in making this advanced safety a component on all their vehicles, much as they did in the early days of Bluetooth. They considered that a safety feature and not a frill, and were the first mainstream automakers to make it standard.
Terrible footnote: Kids and Car Safety has, this year, already counted 56 kids left alone in a vehicle that was then stolen. On Thursday, a 29-year-old mother in Columbus, Ohio died trying to stop a suspect stealing her car. Her six-year-old was asleep in the back; she’d buckled him in and then gone back into his babysitter’s place to collect his things. Her attempts to jump on the hood resulted in her death. The child was recovered. The suspect has not been caught.
Don’t leave your kids or pets in the car.
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