To prevent the tragedy of children being left in cars on hot days, this system would would sent an alarm, a cellphone warning, a beeping sound even escalating the alarm to a horn honking when there's a child in their car seat but the driver isn't.

This would start immediately when the driver parked and got out of their seat. I don't think people would mind a little dinging noise similar to when a car door isn't properly shut. I think parents would actually find in comforting to have that little reminder.

Nobody would ever leave their child in a car knowingly, but accidents do happen. It's the job of engineers and inventors to try to prevent accidents and this might be one way to do that.

Pressure sensitive would be preferable but optical or any other sensor could be looked at.

Could use it for pets too.
-- doctorremulac3, Jun 17 2024

I didn't realize how common this was. https://www.consume...14%20and%20younger.
This makes my heart ache. [doctorremulac3, Jun 17 2024]

This one goes on your key chain https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089T5V8SN
Goes off if you take the key but not the baby. [a1, Jun 17 2024]

Much more robust (and expensive) solution https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018RLACN8
More alert options, including setting off the horn. [a1, Jun 17 2024]

and a few others - probably not a comprehensive list https://www.safewise.com/car-seat-alarm/
Site where I found those two. First google hit for "child safety seat alarm" [a1, Jun 17 2024]

According to this article from 2020 https://www.jdpower...eat-reminder-system
Rear seat reminders are already standard on some vehicles and will be on more in the future. [a1, Jun 17 2024]

Looks like this hasn't been done. The keychain in the link allows the kid to be left in the car if the battery dies or somebody else like a grandparent or other family member or babysitter is driving the car who's not familiar with the system or has the spare key without the alarm.

Mine would start the second you get up out of your seat and the sensor pads could be hard wired so you didn't need to change batteries.
-- doctorremulac3, Jun 17 2024


// Pressure sensitive would be preferable but optical or any other sensor could be looked at. //

I didn't find any "pressure sensitive" ones in a quick search, but there are many that use other sensors. Posted a couple at opposite ends of the price scale - low end uses a clip on the child seat safety strap, high end is hard wired, activated by opening/closing the rear door.
-- a1, Jun 17 2024


So this really hasn't been thought of. Okay.
-- doctorremulac3, Jun 17 2024


Which part hasn't been thought of? Including part of the triggering system in the driver's seat?

I looked on Ride N Remind site to see how it's supposed to work. It sets when you open & close rear door shortly before you start the car or while it's already running. When you turn the car off a chime reminds you look in the back seat. The disarm button is installed in the back and if you don't push it the horn goes off 40 seconds later.

Seems reasonable to me. How does your concept differ or improve upon it?

Another quick search suggested that rear reminders have existed for years and are even standard in some cars. That's worth a [-] but I could flip that to a [+] if you can detail some new advantage to your conceot.
-- a1, Jun 17 2024


Again, as usual, read the idea.

There's sensors on the child's seat and the driver's seat. When there is no driver in the driver's seat but there's a child in the child's seat the alarm goes off.

None of the posted products do that.

Again= -driver, +child = alarm.

There may be a patent registered for this but I very much doubt it because it would have been made by now.

I know it breaks your heart, but this hasn't been done. 7 panic posts and you still haven't found this idea anywhere. Throw your little tantrum bone and move on.

When I develop this and start saving children's lives you can proudly say you didn't understand the idea and tried to quash it.
-- doctorremulac3, Jun 17 2024


Thank you for the more detailed description. How soon after the driver leaves their seat does it trigger?
-- a1, Jun 17 2024


//How soon after the driver leaves their seat does it trigger?//

//This would start immediately when the driver parked and got out of their seat.// Second paragraph in the description.

//Mine would start the second you get up out of your seat// First annotation. Not one, but two clearly stated explanations.

My god, please just read the idea for once. I think you see it's an idea of mine and go into some weird triggered mode and black out. 8 panic posts and a bone and not a clue as to what the actual idea is.
-- doctorremulac3, Jun 17 2024


I admit I often skim your posts for the basic concept and often miss THE specific detail(s) you find most important. Weight sensors in seats, alert with little or no delay, got it.

Not sure this is better than what GM and others (OEMs as well as aftermarket vendors) have been doing for several years though. Monitoring rear door open/closed along with engine on/off sequences seems reasonable. Reminds drivers to check for *anything* left in the back. Whether it's Junior, Fido, or even a bag of groceries.
-- a1, Jun 17 2024


//alert with little or no delay, got it.//

Wow. Just wow. For the forth (and final) time, THERE IS NO DELAY! That's what "IMMEDIATELY" and "WOULD START THE SECOND YOU GET OUT OF YOUR SEAT" means.

Please stop wasting my time. If you're going to show something has been done before you first need to have a clue as to what that something is.

If you read the idea and comprehend it, and there's something already out there that's the same, exactly the same, not similar, not a different approach, not sharing one or two similarities, fine. But if you just perceive "It's something you put in a car" and put up a link to an air freshener, you're wasting everybody's time.

Please don't ever apply for a job as a patent examiner.
-- doctorremulac3, Jun 17 2024


I think the immediate alarm would be very irritating, especially if you've just got out of the car specifically in order to then open the back door and get your small child out.

As cars today are so networked, another solution might be for the car to detect that you've left an infant behind and then, after a few seconds to phone you. You answer the phone and a cheery AI-generated voice says "Hi! Have you forgotten something?".
-- hippo, Jun 17 2024


Doc, I’m just a caveman. I fell on some ice and later got thawed out by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me. When things go ding in these "auto mobiles" of yours I want to bash them with a club.

Your alarm dings when you get out of the seat. GM et al ding and put a "check rear seat" alert on the dash as soon as you turn off the engine OR open your door - but only if you opened & closed the rear door earlier. Caveman frightened either way!

Describe to a potential buyer, OEM, aftermarket vendor, or caveman why your sequencing is better.

Act fast, as basic rear seat reminders are already standard on many vehicles and safety advocates might push the government to require them for all. Window of marketability for new designs may be closing soon.
-- a1, Jun 17 2024


An annoying ding to remind you that the groceries you put back there might have morphed into a child. Great idea.

I think cave men were actually pretty smart, let's not downgrade them.

//I think the immediate alarm would be very irritating, especially if you've just got out of the car specifically in order to then open the back door and get your small child out.//

They already have these for doors being ajar. But if somebody thought that protecting the life of their child wasn't worth having that same dinging noise that warns you that your door isn't fully closed as when they've left a kid in a hot car they wouldn't buy these. Their choice.
-- doctorremulac3, Jun 17 2024


[hippo], annoying or not, dings and other audible alerts (including voice messages) are already ubiquitous. I recently bought a car - my first in over twenty years - and amazed at the variety of new-to-me icons and text on display - and several different alert tones.

It's bad if there's nothing to distinguish one kind of alert tone from another. But also bad is a tremendous variety among them forcing you to check the users' guide to figure out what all of they mean.

For [doc]'s system, it should sound like a crying baby.
-- a1, Jun 17 2024


Hmm, okay. Or a cat meowing or a dog barking if you're using it for that.
-- doctorremulac3, Jun 17 2024


Or a recording of your child saying " daddy, don't leave me!" If each parent gas their own key-fob with RFID (or car has a dashcam that can do facial recognition) might let the recording correctly cry out for daddy or mommy.
-- a1, Jun 17 2024


Asked my brilliant daughter what she thought of this idea and without even thinking about it said “Parents getting home with sleeping kids in the car just want them to stay asleep while they get them out of the car and put them to bed. They don’t want a loud beeping sound to wake the kid up.”

Yup, good point. So you’d have to have a silencing button have to push while you took the kid out if their seat if they were sleeping.
-- doctorremulac3, Jun 18 2024


// don’t want a loud beeping sound to wake the kid up. //

Kudos to your daughter, that is a good point. But if dad walks away leaving the kid behind, waking them is not the biggest worry. You just don't want it to alert UNNECESSARILY.

Easily solved by a time delay before beeping, and the alarm could be on your key fob instead of inside the car. As a minimal approach, the car could just have an indicator on the dashboard that says "check rear seat" with a chime no louder than any of the others is already makes for door ajar, etc.
-- a1, Jun 18 2024


A self-driving car should just follow you around everywhere if you've left an infant in the back seat
-- hippo, Jun 18 2024


The "Kid Asleep" button would be on the cigarette lighter power input. Can't have any batteries with this thing. When you park, push it, keeps the alarm off while you get the kid out of the car and automatically resets after a minute.

If you've pushed the button you remembered the kid's in the car, but if you get distracted after 30 seconds or so it starts beeping.

An un-manually activated time delay would defeat the entire purpose of this thing. Takes about 5 seconds to get out of a car, especially if you're distracted because you're in a rush, the exact scenario where you might forget your kid's in the car.

Could also send text messages that you have to acknowledge. Theoretically you could have ten people making sure you didn't leave the kid in the car.

Not sure I'd like that one. Beeper would probably be enough.
-- doctorremulac3, Jun 18 2024


//A self-driving car should just follow you around everywhere if you've left an infant in the back seat//

True, if you saw a car breaking through your wall into the living room you'd say "Hmm, did I forget something?"
-- doctorremulac3, Jun 18 2024


Vaguely related - I wonder how child injury and death from airbags statistics would compare to those from forgetting children in the back seat. The latter number greatly increased when concerns about airbag injuries led to mandating child safety seats could not be used in the front seat.

Both are tragic, but a "solution" to one problem may have worsened another.
-- a1, Jun 19 2024



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