An Albuquerque teenager is doing her part to put an end to the spate of children being left in sweltering hot cars. Alissa Chavez, a high school senior, has a patent for a device she calls “The Hot Seat,” a pad that is placed inside a car seat or booster seat that works with a driver’s keychain or car alarm and an app on their phone. If a child is left inside the car and the temperature rises, alarms activate. “It’s loud enough to grab people’s attention around the vehicle, as well as remind the parent on their key fob or their cell phone,” Chavez told NBC affiliate KOB.com after receiving recognition from the mayor of Albuquerque for her gadget. Chavez said she came up with the idea for her eighth grade science fair, and is now raising money for a prototype.
At least 18 children have died after being left in hot cars this year, with an average of 30 to 50 kids dying in hot cars each year, according to activist group KidsAndCars.org. Chavez’s invention is not the only one of its kind: a North Carolina father recently debuted a new app called “Precious Cargo,” which sends an alert to parents after the car engine stops.
Stupid parents will just discover new ways to harm their children. I don’t want to see the auto industry forced to include such devices and additional costs on the general public. Next, it will be required for pet owners.
The issue of government imposed mandates to protect people from themselves is rediculous in the extreme.
As an exercise in free enterpize it’s fine so long as the government stays out of it. I do, however, think that anyone dumb enough to leave a small child unattended in a closed hot car would not be aware enough to purchase such a device on their own. We have laws for child abuse and abandonment and the news of childrens’ deaths hasn’t prevented this from happening, so even though it means the kid was thinking to come up with a solution, it’s not likely to go anywhere. Good luck, though.
Wow. You seem not to be aware that stupidity is not the cause of forgetfulness. Even when it involves forgetting very important things. I believe there are plenty of people whose average to above-average intelligence is what will enable them to see the value of a product like this. It’s simply a fact of life that human beings can become distracted, overwhelmed, and forgetful for a variety of reasons–some even that are chronic. Inventions like these will help save lives…as long as people are not too proud to purchase and use them.