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Child seats with an alarm function in the future?
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Photo: NomadSoul / Panthermedia / IMAGO
Time and again, children are harmed because their parents leave them in cars unobserved.
The most recent case occurred in Düsseldorf: on Sunday night, passers-by discovered a parked BMW with a Dortmund license plate in the old town.
Inside the car was a little girl who banged on the windows to get attention.
Since no legal guardian could be seen, the passers-by alerted the police at around 3:15 a.m.
When the officers arrived on site, they smashed the windows of the car and freed the crying child, according to the police report.
About half an hour later, the 23-year-old mother appeared with a companion at the scene.
A breath alcohol test by the legal guardian showed a value of almost two per thousand.
The little girl was unharmed.
The officials made a youth protection report.
Federal government brings warning systems for child seats into play
In the future, according to the federal government, child seats in cars should sound the alarm if adolescents are left alone.
The Ministry of Transport in Berlin announced that the Federal Highway Research Institute had been commissioned to investigate the use of appropriate warning systems.
Reliable results are expected at the end of next year.
In the worst case, especially in summer, the car can become a deadly heat trap, for example when parents go shopping and leave their children alone in the car.
The ADAC recently warned that the temperature in the car could quickly rise to up to 60 degrees Celsius.
Because of such cases, the police and fire brigade have to intervene again and again.
So far, it has been mandatory that the special seats have to protect children from injuries in traffic accidents, the ministry said.
"However, they currently do not contain any requirements for an alarm signal intended to prevent children from being forgotten in vehicles." The "Rheinische Post" reported on this first.
ala/dpa
