A new car seat for babies and small children has been created to prevent infant deaths occurring after parents accidentally leave their children inside hot cars.
Designed by car seat manufacturer Evenflo in conjunction with American retail company Walmart, the Advanced SensorSafe baby seat uses similar technology to seatbelt warning systems in cars.
The seat features a sensor on the chest clip which transmits a signal via Wi-Fi to a wireless receiver that drivers can simply plug into the car’s data port.
If the chest clip is not released after the car’s ignition turns off, the clip projects a sound which reminds drivers and parents that there’s a child sitting in the back seat.
According to non-profit organisation KidsAndCars, an average of 38 children die every year as a result of being trapped in hot cars, with children forgotten in the back accounting for half of cases.
Sarah McKinney, Walmart’s director of corporate communications, said that an intense amount of research and testing was done on the seat to ensure that it worked, and is safe and viable.
She said: “It's the first and only crash-tested car seat that has this type of technology embedded. Right now on the market it's more attachments or accessories or mobile apps, but there's not one that's an actual car seat that has this technology.”
Janette E. Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars, said that she’s seen hundreds of products created to prevent children from coming to harm, with this the most promising development so far.
“This is the first time where I can say with a great deal of confidence that there is something that works, and you've got some big companies behind it, and it will save lives,” she said.
“Because it's been crash tested, I have a high degree of faith that it will work, and you don't have to do anything extra. It’s literally getting it set up one time and then every time you put the baby in, of course you're going to close the chest clip and then it's activated.”
Currently, the seat is due to be sold exclusively through Walmart for the first year for around £97, with Evenflo’s website stating that it’s currently only compatible with American-spec vehicles.
However, given that Walmart owns Asda and other Evenflo products are available in the UK, it’s not unthinkable that the Advanced SensorSafe seat could reach Britain sooner rather than later.
