It’s hotter than Hell, here in Texas this summer. The worst part of that are the children accidentally left in vehicles in the heat. According to Google, Texas ranks #1 as the state with the most child deaths in hot cars between 1990 and 2022. This is horrifically tragic but, in many cases, can be prevented.
Many General Mortors vehicles have a feature called “Rear Seat Reminder.” From the 2019 Chevrolet Volt manual:
This is a great first step, but electric vehicles give us an even better option. Since an EV does not generate carbon monoxide, when it’s running, children left in cars would be protected if the air conditioner continued to operate. Tesla has a feature like this called “Dog Mode.” Here’s how Dog Mode could be made even better.
The owner of the vehicle could set a default for the air conditioner or heater to keep running, unless the driver takes a proactive step to stop it. In other words, when the car is delivered, a dealer technician or salesperson could ask the buyer, “Will you be transporting young children?” If the answer is yes, a feature could be activated to do the following:
- Keep the air conditioner running when the car is turned off.
- Make an alert sound and send a text message to the owner’s phone, “Please check the back seat for passengers! Turn off climate control system? (Y/N)”
- If the message is ignored and the driver exits the car, the A/C or heat would continue to run.
- Every 15 minutes thereafter, a text message would be sent to the owner’s smartphone stating, “Your vehicle’s air conditioner is still running. To turn it off, please return to vehicle.”
At that point, the driver would have to go to the car to stop the climate control system, making sure they would see if a child is still in the vehicle. This might seem inconvenient and only people transporting kids would want it activated, but it could save a child.
Why is this so critical, in my opinion? One day, I was driving my daughter to daycare, before continuing on to work. I was so focused on driving that I almost swerved off the road when she spoke up after a long silence. I had forgotten she was in the back and was driving straight to work! Fortunately, I had engaged the “Rear Seat Reminder” feature, so I would have gotten a warning, when I stopped the car and checked the back seat. The shortfall of this feature is that, in our busy lives, we often just click on a button to be on our way. If I had done so, my daughter would have still been in the car. By having a text message sent to the smartphone, the driver isn’t going to be able to just hit a button or tap the car’s display. They have to take a positive, conscious action.
Even on a very hot day, my car only uses about 1/2 to 2 kW to run the A/C. That equates to a loss of 1.5 to 6 miles of range for each hour it continues to run. That’s a small price to pay to save a child’s life!
- We all have busy lives.
- We’re all human and make mistakes.
- We’re all vain and think we won’t make such a big mistake.
- My baby girl taught me how wrong I was about #3.
The manufacturers are desperately looking for subscription services they can offer their customers. At least in the case of GM, remote smartphone connection to the vehicle requires an active OnStar subscription. This could be a way to get owners to see the value of subscribing and more importantly, to save lives. EVs that are already on the road could have this added as a software update.
It’s an easy fix to a persistent deadly problem.
