Family Calls for Advanced Technology to Prevent Child Deaths in Hot Cars
Three years ago, Tyler Cestia experienced a parent’s worst nightmare. He unknowingly left his 2-and-a-half-year-old son, Thomas, in his truck on a scorching summer day. “In my mind, I remember thinking, ‘well, I don’t remember walking in the sitter’s house to drop Thomas off; I don’t remember that,'” Cestia recalled. “I just said to myself, ‘it can’t be. There’s no way.'”
Cestia described a perfect storm of factors that contributed to the tragedy. The child was in a car seat behind the driver, out of his sight, and Cestia was grappling with COVID-induced brain fog and preoccupied with work. Six hours into the workday, the devastating realization hit him. “I ran out to the car to see and, unfortunately, my worst fears were realized,” he said.
His wife, Pamela, received the harrowing call and rushed to the scene. “I kind of didn’t know how fast children could pass in the car,” she said. “So, I drove like a maniac to Tyler’s work and then just saw Thomas, and he was gone. I just broke down after seeing and knowing what happened.”
Pamela, who once judged parents who forgot their children, now understands that it can happen to anyone. She said, “I think, now, that anybody can leave their kids in the car and forget them. It can be, something else on your mind at the time, a change in routine, that it can happen to anybody.”
Hot Car Deaths: A Deadly Summer Trend
The death of Thomas was ruled an accident. Unfortunately, such tragedies are not uncommon.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts above-average temperatures for much of the U.S. this summer, which increases the risk. A 3-year-old in South Carolina and a 3-month-old in West Virginia died in hot cars this year.
According to Kids and Car Safety, an advocacy group, an average of 38 children die each year from heatstroke in vehicles. Over the last three decades, more than 1,000 children have died in these incidents. A CBS News data analysis revealed that 83% of hot car deaths over the last six years occurred between May and September. Janette Fennell, co-founder and president of Kids and Car Safety, commented, “Quite frankly, we’re surprised it doesn’t even happen more often.”
Fennell explained that the trend of parents forgetting children began after dual front airbags became standard, prompting parents to place infant car seats in the back for safety. She added, “During that transition, nothing was done to change the way we notify people if children are left alone in vehicles. So, it’s a direct correlation of putting the kids in the back seat out of sight, out of mind, and then the number of hot car deaths just keeps going up.”
Technological Solutions and Their Shortcomings
In response to these tragedies, companies have developed technologies to prevent children from being left in cars.
The 2021 infrastructure law mandated that all new passenger vehicles beginning with the 2025 model year include an audio and visual rear seat reminder alert. However, Fennell argues that this law doesn’t go far enough. She said, “What’s written in the law is sort of just the driver reminder system. We’ve been working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and they know that that’s not really an adequate solution. In fact, we as an organization have documented deaths of six children who have died in cars that have just that reminder, so obviously it’s not effective.”
The Cestias’ truck had door logic technology that only warned the driver to check the back seat if a door had been opened at the beginning of the trip. Cestia said, “We had a false sense of security with the rear seat reminder.”
NHTSA stated that it is researching technology and solutions that can provide greater safety benefits beyond the mandated minimum.
The Push for Radar Technology
The Cestias are now advocating for more advanced radar systems that detect movement, even detecting a baby’s breathing. Tyler Warga, with automotive technology supplier Bosch, explained, “So, the difference between this and a typical rear alert reminder… is that this actually detects the presence of life. It’s actually doing the displacement in a child’s chest, and so you’re talking millimeters in terms of the type of movement it can detect.”
Some Hyundai Genesis models have an advanced rear occupant alert system using both a rear seat alert and radar technology. The system also sends out warnings to parents even when they’re not in the vehicle.
When asked why the Alliance for Automotive Innovation isn’t committing to radar technology, Hilary Cain said automakers “want to provide technologies that best meet the needs of their customers, and so there are a range of options for them to do that, and radar technologies would be one of those options.”
According to government documents, radar upgrades would cost car buyers as little as $20. Cain said, “The companies are going to go this way. They’re already going that way. We’re just – you got to give it time for them to do it.”
However, the Cestias believe that if radar technology had been in their truck, their son would still be alive. Tyler Cestia stated, “The gold standard should be met. There’s better technology that’s far superior to the existing technology, and there’s no reason for another parent to go through it.”
