Gadgetory

since 1998 628 children of died in cars that weren't even moving 51% inadvertently left in their car by their parents 30% were playing in the car became locked in and 17% were left in their car by folks who presumably were just going to be a few minutes unclear to some parents and pet owners still is the speed at which the inside of a car heats up even on a mild summer day with temperatures in the low 80s that car will get to heatstroke level in 10 minutes or less so that whole thing about I just was gonna pop in the store for 10 minutes takes on a whole new gravity looking at that nest thermostat on your wall or the fitness band on your wrist you would think there has to be some sensor based technology out there to prevent these tragedies but there isn't as recently as July 2014 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says flat-out there is no recommendable technology to prevent leading kids in cars not for a lack of looking nitsa tested 18 prevention systems that range from pressure and weight sensors that detect a child in the back seat to warn proximity sensors that alert you when you get too far from your child to simple reminder bracelets that are the equivalent of tying a string around your finger in all and it's a pronounced the entire category inconsistent and unreliable offering at best a false sense of security now Volvo had a concept car called the FCC that envisioned a comprehensive detector in the vehicle to figure out if there were people or animals left inside but it was a concept never gained in production they did however do a reduced version of that technology for a few years that was the Volvo personal car communicator it was a smart key fob that tied into a heartbeat detector in the vehicle supposedly could tell you if the boogieman was sitting in the backseat in a dark parking lot as you came back to your car it didn't last on the market very long and it wasn't able to detect children anymore Ford and Intel just unveiled a concept technology called mobi that places cameras all over the car's cabin for a variety of purposes including customizing settings but omitted is any specific goal of child detection some cars now come with a so called wide-angle conversation mirror and that lets you see the entire back row better also consider putting your purse laptop or some other must take item in the back seat with your child and when it comes to animals it's not enough to just crack the window you should know this by now dogs and cats don't sweat like we do just a little through their paws and their noses so for them it's about having a moderated temperature and access to full fresh air in other words not being hemmed into a vehicle so I'm afraid to say the best technology for dealing with this issue is right now no technology it pays to double check who's left behind in your car and for real safety make sure the answer is nobody