Well, racinchikki it would be nice if some of these people had some kind of kid skills. Just because they’ve got clean records doesn’t mean they can cope with the pressure of having lots of kids around. Not everyone’s good with kids.
dantheman, my car gets WAAAAY warmer than 80 degrees when it’s sitting in the sun. Once I start it, the air conditioning cools it down. But if the car was set to call 911 every time there was somebody inside it and it was more than 80 degrees in there, the cops would be coming by EVERY DAY for months on end, during those few minutes it takes to cool it down.
What this woman did was unspeakable. But your proposed solution would only work in Antarctica.
The alarm would not sound unless the ignition was off and there was motion inside. Just a thought.
Hey, we are just working on the concept. We can leave all of the details to someone else. And just for the sake of exchange, why not have it adjusted so that it could be disabled. That way, if you left a passenger waiting, willingly, it would not sound or alert police. I mean it should be designed to be a reminder. It doesn’t have to be a system that can’t be bypassed. People use seatbelts because they think it is safer, not because it can’t be avoided.
Maybe the 911 alert should be made at 95 instead of 85.
Well, that’s true. And it’s worse if you have black seats.
Kalhoun, I also hope someone develops your idea.
This story is so sad; the worst of it to me is that it seems to happen a few times each summer. I bet your idea would save more than a few lives.
I heard these were her foster kids. Any confirmation on that?
Ah, yes,
"LANCASTER, California (AP) – The foster mother of two young boys who died after being left five hours in a sweltering sport utility vehicle was arrested for investigation of child endangerment. "
From http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/07/09/heat.deaths.ap/index.html
I really feel for the children’s parents. At least the kids were alive when they left their parents’ care.
[hijack]
Nope
[/hijack]
Some new cars now come with internal trunk latches, so people locked in the trunk can get out. It seems that kids get locked in hot cars far more frequently than in the trunk, even if you add abductions. Obviously this requires a more high-tech solution, but I can’t believe something isn’t already being developed.
This quote makes me want to puke:
It’s your KIDS, not the fucking dry cleaning!
I think people who leave their kids in hot cars should be given the same treatment. I’ve lived in hot climates my whole life and cars are like a suburb of Hell when they’ve been out in the sun all day. There is NO EXCUSE for this.
I’d really like to think that common sense would stop anybody from leaving their children in the car. I can see, though, that if there is some way to disable a system such as was proposed here, some people would disable it just because they were only going to be a minute and the kids will be FINE, won’t they?
There are people out there for whom airbags, a real-world safety device, are demonstrably unsafe, though they are also for the majority a good thing. I am one of those people. My seating arrangement in my car is such that I think I’ll be okay if it ever goes off – and my next car (hopefully years down the road) will have the better air bags anyway – but nonetheless it IS a safety issue for me. It IS legal for me to get it disabled. But name me ONE mechanic who will do it, since they’d be afraid of getting sued should I get hurt in an accident where the airbag might have helped. Never mind that there is a small chance that the bag itself could have hurt me worse than this theoretical accident did. (It is damn near impossible to find people who will disable airbags, even legally. I’ve heard about this. I haven’t bothered trying just because of that.) The benefits of airbags outweigh the drawbacks by such a large margin for most people that it is a given (aside from being a law) that they will be there, and damn hard to turn off.
I think if such a system were disable-able, far too many people would just disable it and leave it off permanently. So it’d be a nightmare for those of us who a) have sense enough not to leave kids in cars and/or b) don’t HAVE kids and can roast themselves if they really want to.
I LIKE the idea, but I don’t see how it could possibly work.
I mean, it’d be a nightmare because to work the system would have to be set up so it COULDN’T be turned off, thereby creating a huge mess for a lot of innocent people.
The simple solution is to have the system be the inverse of how your rear windscreen defoster element operates. Defrosters use a relay whose coil energy is interrupted whenever the ignition is turned off. This way the defroster does not continue to discharge the battery once the car is no longer in use. Older systems used to have a hard wired toggle switch that allowed the battery to drain in such cases.
Each time you start your vehicle, you will get a prompt that the interior motion / temperature sensor system is engaging. If you are alone in the vehicle you simply override the system’s actuation. If you have children in the car, you do not defeat the system. Additional penalties should await someone who knowingly defeats this alarm with kids in their car. Rather simple, I should say.
The motion sensor is the same $3.[sup]00[/sup] ultrasonic emitter detector array as seen on old Polaroid cameras. Gate its response via a 50¢ thermocouple and allow it to trigger a $1.[sup]00[/sup] solid state relay that drives a $2.[sup]00[/sup] sonalert alarm. Very cheap, highly effective and well worth installing on every car to save the lives of children. I could churn out the design in fifteen minutes.
Zenster, would non-parents be able to turn the thing off permanently? Because I’ve had this car for five years, and I haven’t had anyone younger than 18 in it yet. Having to turn off this doohickey several times a day for all those years would drive me nuts.
Bitch needs the needle but she probably won’t get it.
I suppose you could have it be like airbags, whereby a qualified mechanic could disable the system upon proof of valid non-use.
Okay, there’s a few of these stories every year, but thankfully these ignoramuses are an EXTREME MINORITY. This whole thing about putting some kind of a sensor on cars to prevent it is sort of a hijack of the OP, and the OP kind of made me sick. I hate these stories! But don’t mess with the cars, it’s pointless.
First, this would be an incredible hassle for the almost 100% of people who wouldn’t do this.
And a lot of people don’t have children in their cars, ever. Even people who do have small children don’t actually have them very long because they grow up quick.
Second, it would be available only on new cars. People who are stupid enough to make this kind of serious mistake are going to be driving beaters and if you passed a law requiring it this minute, it would still be 10 years before cars equipped with the device it filtered down to the used car market.
This kind of reminds me of how some years ago there was a whole series of accidents when kids got the strings of their parkas or sweatshirts caught on something on the school bus and got dragged when the bus started up. Changes were made in school buses and changes were made in parkas, when the incredibly simple solution should have been to tell the bus driver not to drive away until all passengers were clear. Which should have been a given anyway.
I am compelled to argue your point, Cicada2003. All evidence points towards people getting ever more stupid. While I detest helmet laws and other intrusive legalistics, I also want to see the needless death of children prevented. There is no other way to avert the situation. All other solutions (i.e., automatically opening the doors or windows) represent a danger or security risk. Again, people are getting increasingly more stupid. I don’t give a rat’s ass about protecting people from themselves. If they want to die, let them. However, THEY DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO KILL THEIR CHILDREN. Name some other effective alternative the the sensor system I’ve outlined and I’ll be happy to consider it. We are currently required to put on seatbelts whenever we drive. What is the big deal in having to push a small button every time you start your car?
How stupid would you have to be? I just do not get it how people can do this! Mr P has a short term memory problem and some of the things he manages to forget have me scratching my head in total disbelief, but never, not once, not ever has forgetting the kids in the car been a problem.
It’s just so sad and heartbreaking.
My mom heard on the news the car had childproof doors. Once locked they couldn’t be opened.