Guide
Protect your child - even in the car
by Myrtha Brunner
Child seats with alarm system save children forgotten in the car
17.9.2019
Translation: machine translated
This spring, the Italian parliament decided that child seats must have a warning system in future. The reason: several children die every year because parents forget them in the car. November will show whether the alarm system will finally become mandatory in Italy.
Do you know the feeling of sitting in your car on a hot summer's day? Without air conditioning, without an open window? That's exactly what some parents put their babies and toddlers through. Time and again, children are left in the car. On a hot or cold winter's day, this behaviour can have fatal consequences. The danger is often underestimated, especially when parents are distracted and lose track of time. It is unimaginable that a mum or dad would get into such a situation, yet several children die every year due to this negligence.
Within 20 minutes at 70 degrees
On an average European summer day (25 degrees), according to TCS, the outside temperature of a white car rises from 25 to 55 degrees after 20 minutes, and even to 70 degrees in a black car. After an hour, it is more than 60 degrees in a white car and around 80 degrees in a black car.
Vehicles heat up equally in the interior. The paintwork is irrelevant in this case. In the TCS test, the temperature on the dashboard reaches 80 degrees after 60 minutes and 45 degrees at head height. On a warm day, the temperature in a car can quickly exceed 50 degrees. Children are not yet able to regulate their body temperature properly. They sweat less and heat up more quickly. Sooner or later, this leads to heat build-up.
In winter, the cold is fatal for children. Their stature means they cool down faster than adults. In addition, a child wearing a seatbelt hardly moves and has no winter clothing on, which leads to faster loss of body heat. The result is hypothermia.
In order to protect children from these dangers, the Italian parliament decided in spring 2019 that child seats must have an alarm system in future. The warning signal is intended to alert parents that there is still a child in the car.
Italy as a pioneer
Unfortunately, fatalities have not only occurred in Italy to date, but also in Switzerland and other countries. Nevertheless, Italy is now leading the way. The entry into force of the new regulation has been postponed indefinitely because the Italian Council of State still has to approve the technical requirements for the child restraint systems. The target date is November 2019. From then on, you will only be allowed to transport children up to the age of four in a child seat that has the appropriate warning system. A system that supports forgetful and negligent parents.
At present, all that is known about the technical equipment is that three requirements must be met: There needs to be a warning system in the child seat, one in the vehicle and an external device that is interposed between the child seat and the vehicle. The warning system can be integrated directly into the seat or placed as a mat under the child seat. The "Sensor Safe" technology from Cybex, for example, already fulfils the requirements. Britax and Maxi-Cosi are working on possible retrofit components.
For the first time, the warning child seat will only be relevant for vehicles registered in Italy or for drivers who are resident in Italy. According to current information, holidaymakers travelling to Italy in their own car are exempt from the obligation. Hire cars registered in Italy must be fitted with them. This is the responsibility of the car hire company. So it will be interesting to see whether the new law comes into force in November.
Two things you mustn't forget until then: Your child in the car and to press the "Follow" button on my author profile.
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