Forgetting your keys, your purse, even your umbrella when you’re exiting a vehicle is totally acceptable and understandable. But your child? That’s just ridiculous. The $US29 system uses a sensor pad that’s slipped underneath the padding on a car seat, and a fob that attaches to the driver’s keys. The pad detects the child’s weight, and if it’s separated from the fob by more than five metres while the child is seated, an alarm sounds to remind the parent-of-the-year that they’ve left their little one unattended in the vehicle.
A better approach might be to also remind them that they’re probably not responsible enough to have any more kids. And a three strikes rule where child services was automatically called woud be ideal. [Baby Alert International via Coolest Gadgets]
Image: Marcel Jancovic/Shutterstock
Oh lordy, what is the world coming to
It certainly happens more often than you'd think, but it's thankfully rare (it happened not far from here a few years ago - http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=339894). This is probably aimed at the "buy any child safety product" crowd who think they're being negligent by not owning it (kind of like my wife).
if you need this then you shouldn't have kids
I've found the easiest solution is to set an alarm on my phone. I know after I've hit snooze 4 or 5 times, I should probably stop playing the pokies and get back to the car.
Happened just yesterday actually..
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/kentucky-boy-left-hot-car-father-kenneth-robinson-16667497
Actually, if any Gawker staff were actual journalists they would know that studies have shown that this sort of thing is a good idea. The extreme exhaustion that goes with a new child can lead to people slipping into memory patterns; so if you've been going to the shops for years without a child, and then don't sleep for days because your new child is keeping you awake, it's entirely likely you body will fall back to it's old memory patterns. This is Psychology 101 stuff.
You obviously have never had kids! Ive had three Exhaustion means you forgot your kids? Oh please, this is just more of folks not taking responsibility for their own actions and looking for something/someone to blame.
People who leave kids in the car do it deliberately, then forget about them. Who gets out of a car and forgets to take the kids with them?
Buying a new parent one of these as a gift would be the perfect way to politely say "You're clearly from the shallow end of the gene pool and shouldn't be reproducing." I know a parent or two who may receive such gifts shortly...
I hope this comes with a free vasectomy.