With all the children dying in cars every year Tesla should add an automatic check for weight using the occupant detection sensor if not changed on the rear seats to see if a child is left in a rear row seat when the driver leaves the vehicle far enough to autolock and notify that a possible child has been left in the car to remind a parent to check. What parent wouldn't want a car that can save their child from a horrible death? Make it selectable in settings for people who have dogs or maybe have Dog Mode inactivate the the check.
It is the parent's responsibility to remember. Yes, it's terrible that they forget as often as they do, but it's not the car's fault nor should they be expected to correct it.
Think about what such a feature would entail. A weight sensor? Oh, but those are usually disabled when a seatbelt is properly clicked, since otherwise we'd all go insane with beeps as we sit in the car ourselves. Child seats use the factory seatbelts, but their actual harnesses have no sensors on them--full, empty, makes no difference to the clicked factory belt.
But a child-in-seat weight is not the same--but think about the size difference of children. From 6lbs to 40lbs, cheap-o-used seats to seats that are more luxiousous than my own bed, the weight can fluxuate
dramatically. And, specifically, it would change throughout the child's life. So the parents would have to constantly update the weight calibration if they could even try to function with that weight difference.
Further, if I set things in the back, like a container of water, it would likely trigger the sensor, and I don't care if the water sits in my car overnight. I don't want to be reminded of it.
Or, maybe it'd just turn on Dog mode--but then the water is chilled at 80^ over night, draining my battery unnecessarily.
The issue is several layers;
1) How big of an issue is this?
Seat belts come to mind--people were
dying all the time before they came out. People were dying specifically because they were operating their car.
2) How can a car company be expected to correct this?
Putting installed seat belts became mandatory, which is a reasonable assumption. People need to be safe when they drive a 2 tonn vehicle around.
3) How can you enforce people to follow whatever is installed?
Seatbelts were installed, but weren't used for
years. People had to be indoctrinated into using it, ticketed, forced. Even if there was a feature to turn on/off in the car, if people never turn it on (like it keeps beeping at them when they just have an empty seat in the rear, which most parents leave when they don't have their kid), it's a waste.
4) How much of a responsibility does the car company have for it's passengers?
Cars should protect their passengers when they are moving the vehicle. That's why crumple zones, seat belts, and air bags exist. However, if you turn the car off in the middle of Death Valley during summer and try to take a nap in it--is it the car's responsibility to step up against your own stupidity?
