Why do certain baby seat alarms exist?

seriously. Who had such a stupid idea, and who APPROVED it?

Yesterday morning, in Rome, another baby died, forgotten in her baby car seat by her parent:

The car where the baby died from Google image search

I am NOT going to say anything at all about the parents, or even the whole tragedy, even when what actually happened will be known in every detail (all is known by now is that a 14-months -old baby died of heat inside a closed car, parked under the sun).

This post is only about one thing I saw in the news.

“There’s an app for that”. Even when it’s stupid, unnecessary and dangerous

Google search results for “baby car seat alarm smartphone”

One of the italian national channels just aired an interview to the representative of some car seat company, who showed a car seat sensor (NOT those in the picture!) that (going by memory) “has its own app, that will conveniently ring an alarm on your smartphone if you leave the baby in her seat”.

Baby safety yes, of course. But I am frankly appalled that that whole category of products, that is “car seat alarms that need a smartphone to work” is allowed to exist, and was conceived in the first place.

It’s great to have an alarm ring if you forget your baby inside the car. But who on Earth tought that that way to do it made sense, and should be legal? How is it possible to trust as life-saving alarm something that:

• will JUST FAIL if you lose your phone, or forget it in the car, or forget it in silent mode

• will not work if your stmartphone is cracked

• may force both parents to change phone, just to install that app, if it’s not compatible with the ones they already have

• will not work if you need your parents, relatives, friends… to drive the baby somewhere, because you are sick, unless they too install the damned app first?

• did I forget some equally highly likely scenario? Please tell!

Seriously, I can’t believe something this idiotic exists. A baby seat alarm system should be something that is:

• smartphone-free, see above

• attached to the car, sin order to work whoever takes it, e.g. grandparents who take the baby to kindergarden

• compatible with every car

• as independent as possible from all the other hardware and software in the car, and work, at least partly, even if the rest of the car doesn’t

Help other parents to avoid this deadly mistake!

In other words, only alarm systems like this (*) should be legal:

“Backseat Reminder System”

Systems, that is, that “seamlessly integrates [in the car] to provide full backseat protection for EVERYTHING [child, pet, laptop, briefcase, purse or other cargo] in your back seat every time you drive.”

Why isn’t it so?

(*) Disclosure

I have NO relationship whatsoever with Ride&Remind. At time of writing, they don’t even know I exist, and I myself I had no idea they existed, until I saw that interview and decided to search some decent product for this post. As far as I know, there may very well be other products that work in the same way, but much better. I don’t know and I don’t care. My only interest here is to tell every parent “buy whatever you want, as long as it works that way, without a smartphone”. And if you don’t believe me, read what SafeWise says.

Comments? Experience? Advice?

Personally, I do not need baby car seat now, or in the foreseable future. But if you have comments, experiences, product recommendatios about baby car seats… please write them in the comments, to inform parents who will surely welcome them. Thanks!