The death of Cooper Harris, who was left in a hot car by his father, Justin Roy Harris, has renewed efforts to develop devices to warn drivers when they have left a child in a vehicle.

The problem of parents leaving children in hot cars because they forgot they were in the back seat has spurred the development of devices to prevent this tragedy, including a high schooler in New Mexico.

Motivated by the reports she’d heard over the years, Alissa Chavez developed The Hot Seat for her eighth-grade science fair in Albuquerque. The hot seat is a pad that slides underneath a child seat’s cushions that senses the weight of the child in the seat.

Once activated, it links via bluetooth to a key fob, smartphone and the car. If the child is not removed from the seat and the fob is more than 40 feet away from the car, an alarm sounds on the fob, phone and car alerting the parent.

With number of deaths – 17 confirmed and four under investigation across the country this summer – garnering attention, Chavez is now crowd sourcing to produce the device. Thus far, she’s raised $5,000, which will allow her to develop a prototype to show to manufacturers.

She’s not alone in her efforts and with good reason: an average of 38 children die each year from heatstroke in vehicles, according to KidsAndCars.org, an organization advocating for child vehicular safety. There were 44 deaths last year, according to San Francisco State University.

More than 50% happen because a parent forgot the child was in the backseat. Heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related deaths for children under the age of 14, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

In an effort to solve the problem, the agency partnered with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to test several devices aimed at making sure children aren’t left unattended in vehicles.

The study showed that none of the 18 devices examined provided consistent results and all had limitations including: inconsistencies in arming sensitivity; interference with the notification signal by outside influences; spilled liquid beverages rendering it unusable; and disarming of the devices due to a slumping or out-of-position child.

(Alleged murder underscores danger of leaving children in hot cars. For more, Click Here.)

Additionally, many of the products required extensive efforts by parents and caregivers to set-up, monitor, and operate, which could give parents and caregivers using the devices a false sense of security.

(Click Here for details about family suing BMW after 14-year-old dies in locked car.)

The technologies would also not address the 20 to 40% of children who are killed when they enter a vehicle without the knowledge of a parent.

(To see more about Hyundai’s $17.35 million fine, Click Here.)

“While many of these products are well intended, we cannot recommend parents and caregivers rely on technology to prevent these events from occurring,” said NHTSA Administrator David L. Strickland in a statement.

The agency does have several recommendations for parents and other caregivers to help avoid leaving a child in a vehicle.

• Never leave a child unattended in a vehicle – even if the windows are partially open or the engine is running and the air conditioning is on;
• Make a habit of looking in the vehicle – front and back – before locking the door and walking away;
• Ask the childcare provider to call if the child does not show up for care as expected;
• Do things that serve as a reminder a child is in the vehicle, such as placing a cell phone, purse or briefcase in the back seat to ensure no child is accidentally left in the vehicle, writing a note or using a stuffed animal placed in the driver’s view to indicate a child is in the car seat; and,
• Teach children a vehicle is not a play area and store keys out of a child’s reach.

NHTSA also urges community members who see a child alone in a vehicle to immediately call 911 or the local emergency number. The child should be removed from the vehicle as quickly as possible and rapidly cooled with water if in distress.