PHOENIX — Safety advocates are pushing for backseat detection technology in all new vehicles, as Arizona still ranks fourth in the country for the number of children who die every year in hot cars.
Some new vehicles already alert drivers to check their back seats when a rear door has been opened and closed before a trip. But Chloe Burke, with the group Kids and Car Safety, said more advanced technology can track breathing and movement in a vehicle's back seat and also offer alert systems to bystanders or send a message directly to the driver.
Burke says the technology can cost as low as $20 per vehicle.
“Most safety features that are implemented into cars is not because these car manufacturers are doing it by their own decision, they're being required to do it so that speaks to the importance of our mandates," she said.
Advocates with Kids and Car Safety say a law was passed in 2021, requiring the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to add technology to all new cars by November 2023. But the group says the final rule, is now almost 3 years overdue from the mandated deadline.
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When asked about the deadline, a NHTSA spokesperson sent ABC15 the following statement:
“To prevent these tragedies, NHTSA engages in a multipronged effort to address the causes of hot car injuries: parents and caregivers forgetting a child in a vehicle, intentionally leaving a child in a vehicle, or children entering unlocked vehicles to play. This effort involves extensive educational materials and media campaign messaging to address all three causes. NHTSA has also commenced rulemaking activities to address one of these causes—parents and caregivers forgetting children in vehicles—by requiring vehicles to have systems to alert drivers to check the back seat after a trip. As part of this complex rulemaking, NHTSA is analyzing more sophisticated technologies to detect and alert parents if a child is in the back seat, as well as assessing the effectiveness of seat occupant detection systems. The agency will continue to test additional systems as they become available to the public. For the latest on the rulemaking, please refer to the Unified Agenda [reginfo.gov].”
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