Kids die from heatstroke in vehicles
An average of 38 children die from heat-related deaths each year in hot cars — a scary statistic that inspired the creation of the ANEIROS Smart Vehicle Child Seat Safety System, aimed to prevent these senseless tragedies before they occur. And while it's so easy to shake your head in disgust at those parents and caregivers who left those tiny victims to bake in a motor vehicle, kidsandcars.org says that even the most on-point parents can overlook a sleeping baby in the car due to stress, changes in their normal routine or lack of sleep. This means it could easily happen to you.
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'Smart' child car seat can save lives
In a world filled with high-tech vehicles that can even remember where you like your driver's seat to be positioned, it's not a stretch to envision a child safety seat that works with your car to keep your kiddo safe. Now on the horizon comes a child car seat worthy of our technologically-advanced times — the ANEIROS system — that alerts parents and caregivers if a child is accidentally left behind in the car. Using sensors and transmitters, the car seat is hardwired into the vehicle's alarm and electrical system to active the vehicle's honking, lights, alarm, door locks and air conditioning systems. The ANEIROS Smart Vehicle Child Seat Safety System aims to reduce the chances that kids are forgotten in the car or the risk of kids overheating when left behind in the vehicle in many ways.
- When the sensors in the driver's seat and car seat detect both parent and child are present, the system does nothing.
- Once the driver exits the vehicle, a low-level beeping is heard to remind the caregiver that the child is still in the backseat. When the baby is removed, the stage-one beeping will stop.
- However, if the car seat system senses that the child is still present three minutes after the driver has left the seat, a stage-two alert is activated, triggering the car to honk and flash the lights via the alarm system. ANEIROS asserts that many parents should be alerted that their child was left in the car by this stage before the risk of heatstroke can occur.
- In cases where the temperatures rise above 98 degrees F in the vehicle, the car seat activates the high-level alert stage, triggering the air conditioning system to cool the overlooked child and unlocking the doors for outside rescuers to remove the child from the unattended vehicle.
In the future, the car seat creator has plans to develop a smartphone connection so parents receive mobile notifications in conjunction with the car seat's vehicle warnings.
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Life-saving car seat still needs funding
Armed with a working prototype, a full U.S. patent and factories on standby, all that is standing between parents and these innovative car seats is a little bit of cash. The ANEIROS Smart Vehicle Child Seat Safety System still seeks funding to complete final engineering, tooling and manufacturing before the public can access these life-saving devices. The company has launched a campaign to crowdfund the final phase of development and manufacturing, reaching out to the public via the indiegogo.com site.
"We chose to go via the public funding route because we believe the direct support and communication from the community is what's most important," shares Jonathan Machado, ANEIROS creative director. "It also allows contributors to pre-order the system at an insanely reduced price-point as a thank you for their support. The wonderful thing about crowdfunding via IndieGoGo is that anyone, anywhere in the world, can donate any amount, from $1 to $1 million, to help bring a life-saving device to the market. What a beautiful and empowering concept."
You may never imagine 'forgetting' your child in the car, but the sad truth is that the families who have had to experience the loss of a child left in a car firsthand said the same thing before tragedy struck. To donate to the crowdfunded car seat that could save lives of children left in cars — or pre-order your ANEIROS Smart Vehicle Child Seat Safety System — visit their fundraising page now.
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