Since 1990, according to the safety advocates at Kids and Car Safety, more than 1,000 children have died when left alone in hot cars. Another 7,300 have survived with disabilities from heat injuries.
Framing it as “since 1990” can make it sound distant, so let’s change the frame: There were at least three deaths last week attributed to kids left in hot cars.
Volvo prides itself on its safety innovations. The company invented the 3-point seatbelt, the rear-facing child safety seat, the side airbag, blind-spot protection, and other safety innovations we take for granted today.
So when Volvo thinks it has a solution to the hot-car-death problem, our ears perk up.
New Top of the Volvo Line on the Way
In November, the Swedish automaker will launch an all-new flagship vehicle, the EX90. Most automakers tease their upcoming cars with shadowy photos to emphasize their sexiest angles. But the first piece of information Volvo has dropped about its next top-of-the-line model is a new safety technology — because this is Volvo.
The EX90 will likely include multiple outside-the-car radar systems for its various driver aids. According to a report by MotorTrend, it will also use seven different radar points to monitor the inside of the cabin.
It Can Detect a Baby Breathing Under a Blanket
“We have spaced radars throughout the entire cabin, complete coverage from front to back and even in the rear luggage area, the trunk,” says Gunnar Ohlsson, product owner for interior systems at Volvo. They will monitor the driver and passengers, even tracking to see if they wear their seatbelts correctly. Volvo says radar is more accurate than seat pressure systems at detecting whether the front seats are occupied and activating airbags as needed.
It can also detect movements as fine as the flutter of a sleeping baby’s breathing under a blanket. If an owner tries to lock the EX90 with someone inside, the car won’t lock. It will instead flash a warning.
“The presence detection system is really about us alerting the driver when leaving the car,” says Lotta Jakobsson, senior technical specialist in injury prevention. “That is when we need the information on breathing, so it is important that we can measure small children underneath blankets, within their child seats.”
“No one chooses to be distracted or tired, but we know it can happen,” Jakobsson adds.
This safety system will appear first on the EX90. But Volvo says the technology will make its way through the rest of the Volvo lineup over time.
