(NBC News) An average of 38 children die each year from being left inside hot cars according to the child safety group KidsAndCars.org.
Now new technology is providing added measures of protection.
Intel has created a “Smart Clip” that parents can attach to the child’s car seat. The clip connects to your phone via Bluetooth and sends an alert if you walk a certain distance away from the car with the child still inside.
A teenager from New Mexico invented a device she calls the “Hot Seat”. It’s a pad that parents can place inside a car seat or booster seat. It connects to a driver’s keychain or car alarm – and using an app, the Hot Seat sends alerts and alarms if a child is left inside the car and the temperature rises.
The idea is to attract not only the parent’s attention, but also passersby who may be near the car.
Still, advocacy groups caution against relying on any single piece of technology.
They encourage parents to have multiple layers of protection including “analog” methods.
“Purposely putting your purse or cell phone in the back seat, so you’ll need to reach back there before you leave. If you’re able to make that muscle memory every time you get out of the car, it can go a long way in preventing these senseless deaths and injuries,” notes NBC News Senior Tech Writer Julianne Pepitone.
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