Back in September 2019, Ford committed to adding a rear seat alert system to all of its passenger vehicles by the 2025 model year, a move that it made after the tragic deaths of a few children in hot cars when their parents or guardians simply forgot they were back there. The Blue Oval was joined by a host of other automakers as part of a broader pledge by members of the Alliance of Automotive Innovation (AAI) and other industry groups, too. Now, fast forward a few years, and the vast majority of the new Ford lineup has achieved that goal already.
According to AAI, every new Ford model comes equipped with rear seat reminder technology except for the two-door Ford Bronco and Ford Mustang, which is a notable achievement, indeed. The reason these two models are excluded from the group is likely due to the fact that the Ford rear seat reminder system utilizes technology that detects whether or not the rear door was opened before a trip begins, rather than relying on some type of sensor or camera, and both of those models don’t have rear doors, of course.
As AAI points out, rear seat reminders are designed to address pediatric vehicular heatstroke (PVH), which young children are particularly at risk of. Each year, children die as the result of this condition after being left alone in vehicles during hot weather, as their bodies can heat up three to five times faster than those of adults. Currently, the automotive industry is on track to accomplish its goal of installing this technology in all new vehicles by the 2025 model year, as it’s currently offered in more than 260 vehicle makes and models.
Automakers rely on different types of systems for rear seat reminders, but most emit some sort of distinct auditory and visual alert designed to get the attention of the driver if there is potentially a rear seat occupant in the vehicle when it’s turned off. Some of these systems trigger alerts when the rear door was opened and closed before the trip began – as is the case with Ford – while others use direct occupant seating technology such as sensors and cameras.
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