Helping to Combat Child Heatstroke, Automakers Commit to Introducing New Vehicles with Rear Seat Reminder Systems

Parents and caregivers will soon be reminded to check for children in rear seats, thanks to an automaker-led voluntary commitment to add rear seat reminder systems to new vehicles. This announcement is the industry’s latest effort to help enhance child safety, and expands upon widespread efforts to increase public awareness regarding the dangers of leaving children alone in a vehicle.

Under this commitment, automakers will innovate by introducing a wide range of approaches to help parents and caregivers remember to check the back seat as they leave a vehicle. At a minimum, these prompts will include a combination of auditory and visual alerts that will activate after a driver turns off the vehicle. With this pledge, the auto industry commits to having the rear seat reminder feature in essentially all cars and trucks by Model Year 2025 or sooner.