Quebec coroner says forgotten infant deaths could be prevented with tech
A Quebec coroner's report is again calling into question the lack of potentially life-saving technology in vehicles that could detect infants forgotten in car seats.
In the report obtained by Radio-Canada before its scheduled release later today, Coroner Denyse Langelier states car seat sensors, cameras, mirrors and cell phone alerts could be used to warn parents that their child is still in the backseat.
"There are currently several devices in place to alert the driver to the presence of a baby on board, but there is no Canadian regulation forcing car manufacturers to install one at this time," Langelier wrote.
The coroner's report is from the investigation into the death of a boy who was just under a year old.
He died in the backseat of a parked car in Saint-Jérôme, Que., after his father forgot to drop him off at daycare.
"My goal is to protect human life," Langelier told Radio-Canada Thursday.
She also recommended parents establish a point of contact or routine, like texting a partner after dropping off your child, to avoid a tragedy.
Transport Canada says no sensor effective enough
The coroner contacted Transport Canada about these devices and the agency responded that there is no sensor effective enough to detect a child left unattended in a vehicle.
The agency says children have irregular breathing and produce only small amounts of carbon dioxide, making difficult to create sensors that detect them.
With an average of 37 children dying annually in hot cars in North America, this is not the first Quebec coroner's report to recommend vehicle manufacturers be compelled to include child-sensing alarms in the back seat of cars.
The recommendation dates back more than a decade and the technology has been on the market for some time.
Companies offer a variety of sensors and alerts that are built into cars and car seats or added to the seat.
Such technology varies from digital clips on shoulder harnesses that sync with smart phones to sensors that detect occupants and sound voice alarms when the car shuts off.
Automaker GMC's Rear Seat Reminder feature is available in most of its 2018 models. It reminds parents to check the back seat before exiting the vehicle.
High school students propose solution
Two Quebec teenagers found a way to alert a driver if they forget a child in the car and their invention is mentioned in Thursday's coroner's report.
Twin sisters Marie-Pier and Sophie Vermette-Lacroix were touched by the tragedy in Saint-Jérôme and decided to do something about it.
"We thought it was important to achieve something," said 16-year-old Sophie.
It works by placing a push-button sensor under a cushion placed on the driver's seat and another under the baby seat. If it senses the weight of the baby, but not the driver's, it sounds an alarm.
"It recognizes who is present, who is absent," said Marie-Pier. "When there is only the child seat switch that is engaged, the micro-controller will send a message to the alarm that will ring to alert the driver."
Their system is able to detect the presence of a baby weighing as little as 1.9 kilograms. The invention, dubbed "Attention Baby on Board," made it to the Canadian Science Fair finals in May 2017.
The young inventors describe it as effective, reliable, inexpensive and easy to install. They are looking to add a Bluetooth system that automatically sends messages to the family.
As they wait for a patent, the twins dream of partnering with a baby seat manufacturer one day, but, ultimately, they want to prevent the deaths that took place in Saint-Jérôme and more recently, in Montreal.
Police say the father forgot to drop the child off at daycare on June 22, and he only realized his mistake when he went to pick up the child around 5:30 p.m. that day.
