If this year is just average, 38 children will day when left or trapped inside a hot car — but new technology being developed by Toyota could prevent such tragedies.
Dubbed “Cabin Awareness,” this proof-of-concept system uses high-resolution 4D imaging radar to detect whether a child or pet has been left inside a vehicle after it’s parked. If that happens, the system will sound an alert, even call emergency responders, if necessary.
“We are extremely proud of our efforts to take this idea from the drawing board to a full-blown concept, and, hopefully, developing a technology that has the potential to save lives,” said Zack Hicks, Toyota Motor North America’s chief digital officer and CEO of its in-house technical operation, Toyota Connected.
Record deaths
During the past few decades, an average of 38 children have died when trapped or left behind in a hot car. A record 53 died in both 2018 and 2019, according to the National Safety Council.
In some instances, parents and caregivers have been held legally responsible, some prosecuted for intentionally leaving children inside a hot vehicle. In the majority of instances, authorities determined the children were left behind inadvertently. And in about one in four such deaths, children climbed into a vehicle on their own but were unable to exit, Hicks noted.
Such deaths can occur on even temperate days, the NSC noted, as the temperature inside a vehicle exposed to the sun can quickly climb above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, even if outside temperatures are just in the 60s or 70s.
Automakers have struggled to come up with ways to prevent hot car deaths. A number of recent vehicles sold by manufacturers such as General Motors and Hyundai incorporate rear seat reminders. If one of the back doors is opened, a warning is flashed on the driver’s gauge cluster along with a warning chime when the vehicle is shut off.
It’s difficult to tell whether such systems are having an impact, though the number of hot car deaths did decline to 25 in 2020 and 23 last year.
Challenges ahead
But safety advocates say that’s still too many. The challenge is coming up with a system that specifically can detect when a child — or a pet — is left behind in a vehicle.
More than a decade ago, General Motors began working on a motion detection system but it proved too difficult a task with the technology of the day, especially with infants who may be asleep in a child seat.
Toyota Connected believes the latest sensors are coming of age, especially the 4D imaging radar used in the Cabin Awareness prototype.
It can detect the slightest motion, said Hicks, “even an infant’s chest moving up and down,” and even when covered by a blanket.
Sounding the alarm
If triggered, the prototype system would flash a warning and sound the vehicle’s horn. If no one responds it will take a series of escalating steps, sending warnings via text and the Toyota app, and eventually calling 911, if necessary.
Unfortunately, the Cabin Awareness system isn’t ready for production, Hicks saying there are still some challenges to “work out.” Among other things, Toyota Connected engineers have to make sure the system wouldn’t be triggered by exterior movements, such as a bird landing on a vehicle’s back glass, the executive said.
But the automaker believes it will be able to bring the concept into the real world. “We hope to get it into production” later in the decade, said Hicks, adding that it is most likely to debut on one of the fully autonomous vehicles that Toyota is developing. It could later show up on a retail vehicle.