AKRON (Oct. 16, 2014) — As a journalist, I receive a lot of press releases in my email inbox from myriad companies.
Many irrelevant emails get quickly deleted after a glance at the subject line but recently one caught my attention enough to open it: “Finally, a solution to stop toddler hot car deaths.”
With all the news surrounding this topic, my interest was piqued about this “solution.” Beverly Marketing Management was announcing that it has a working prototype of a child monitoring system that will alert parents when a child is accidentally left in a car seat. The system consists of a sensor pad, an electronic component and a smart phone app.
The system transmits a signal between the car seat and cell phone. When a child is put in the car seat, it triggers the device to turn on automatically. If the parent exits the car with the cell phone and gets 10-15 feet away from the car without removing the child from the car seat, the phone will alert the parents with an audible and visible screen display indicating the child is in the car seat.
Sounds like a great system, right?
Yet I couldn't get past that nagging notion that the system is dependent on the absent-minded parents remembering to grab their cell phones, but forgetting to grab their pride-and-joys.
Maybe I'm from a bygone generation of parenting, or my kids were fussier than others so I didn't get the luxury of “forgetting” they were in the backseat of the car. But I happily can attest I never forgot to get my kids out of their car seats (although there were a few times I fantasized running far away from my car with a screaming child inside!).
However, I have to admit I have left the house without my cell phone on a couple of occasions — is that considered cellular abuse?
I have written several articles about the growing prevalence of customers walking into tire stores staring at their cell phones and comparing prices. Dealers, in turn, are encouraged to delve into the world of mobile communication and promotion to reach these high-tech consumers.
My thought is, maybe all this focus on mobile technology will someday expand the tire industry's consumer safety campaign — in addition to reminding drivers to check their tires for low air pressure, the tire industry should remind drivers to check their back seats for children!
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Tire Business Reporter Kathy McCarron can be reached at [email protected]; 330-865-6127.
