New car seat makes sure kids aren't forgotten

The car seat has a sensor which triggers a series of tones to remind the driver the child is still strapped in when the ignition is switched off. Photo / Thinkstock

A new car seat designed to help prevent children dying in hot cars has gone on sale in the US.

Like the alerts that sound in most new cars when headlights are left on or a passenger is not wearing a seatbelt, the car seat has a sensor which triggers a series of tones to remind the driver the child is still strapped in when the ignition is switched off, CNN reports.

According to the non-profit KidsandCars.org an average of 38 children in the US die every year from being left in hot cars. Often this is because a caregiver has forgotten the child is in the car.

The Evenflo Advanced Embrace with Sensorsafe will be available exclusively from Walmart stores.

Sarah McKinney, Walmart's director of corporate communications, told CNN the car seat's alarm sound was designed to be different from existing car sounds or common smartphone ring tones.

KidsandCars.org founder Janette E Fennell said of the hundreds of products invented by well-meaning people to prevent hot car deaths, this is the most promising development so far.

"This is the first time where I can say with a great deal of confidence that there is something that works, and you've got some big companies behind it, and it will save lives," she said.

"You don't have to do anything extra ... it's literally getting it set up one time and then every time you put the baby in, of course you're going to close the chest clip and then it's activated."

- nzherald.co.nz