DEARBORN (MI): Given that there are more risks and harmful situations involved with cars than you could possibly imagine?even in your worst nightmare, literally?the car companies are having to work out solutions for safety problems that you didn't know existed, as well as some for hazards we're all too well aware of.
For example, Ford has come up with a solution for a problem that arose this past summer in Detroit that involved the death of a child who was securely fastened in a safety seat in the back of a car. Unfortunately, the father forgot to stop at the daycare on the way to work and didn't remember the child until it had been locked in a hot car for many hours.
So Ford researchers came up with a super-sensitive micro-accelerometer that measures minute vibrations in a vehicle to detect a human heartbeat. If an infant or a pet is left in a vehicle after it's parked, an alarm sounds, and that's supposed to bring help.
That system was part of just one concept vehicle?the SecureCar?that researchers from Ford and its subsidiary operations at Volvo and Mazda recently showed off to the media in its design studio here in suburban Detroit. Along with a solution to that horrific and thankfully rare situation, the cars addressed many broader-based safety and security concerns.
Other safety devices in the SecureCar involved the ongoing dangers associated with people being trapped in the trunk.
For people who are conscious in the trunk, Ford came up with an illuminated touch pad, and to make it something a child might use?children still do get locked in trunks on a regular basis?it's a picture of a bunny.