While some folks were welcoming a hot girl summer, at some points, the temperatures easily crested beyond a heat index of 100 degrees. With temps still climbing to the mid-90s, it seems like the warmth is here to stay for a while.
With temperatures so hot, what can become an even hotter space is the interior of a vehicle left in the sun. At its hottest temperatures over the last 10 years, Atlanta’s summertime temperatures have averaged around 95 degrees.
A car parked in the sun can easily scorch within its interior 10 degrees higher.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, heatstroke was the leading cause of non-crash vehicle-related fatalities for children age 14 and younger.
To address the concern of what has become a disturbing trend of car-related heat deaths, Chevrolet/General Motors has employed a number of new safety features on its 2020 Chevy Traverse.
The Atlanta Voice talked with Tricia Morrow, Chevrolet’s Global Vehicle Strategy Safety Manager, who walked us through many of the vehicle’s standard safety features.
Morrow was most excited to demonstrate the Traverse’s “Rear Seat Reminder” feature, which General Motors made its in 2016 with the 2017 GMC Acadia and is now standard on all 2019 and beyond models, including SUVs, crossovers, pickups, sedans.
“We’re really proud to offer this technology across the Chevrolet portfolio,” Morrow said.
“It was designed in response to the tremendous amount of hot car deaths that we see each year. We were really looking towards accurate and reliable technology to detect kids in the back of a vehicle, but the technology’s just not there yet.”
“And so what General Motors did is design a system where drivers consider, ‘What’s the first thing you do when you put a baby or child in the car? You open the rear door,’” she continued. “So if you use the rear doors 10 minutes before or anytime while the vehicle is on, the system’s activated. When the driver turns the vehicle off, they will hear five distinct chimes and a message rear seat reminder.”
While the feature does not detect the presence of rear-seat passengers or child seats, it provides a simple, extra reminder to drivers to take another look inside their vehicle. The system was meant to be a subtle, gentle reminder to check your backseat whenever a driver turns off their vehicle, Morrow said.
“It’s just we want you to take a quick look in the back seat,” Morrow explained. “It could be your lunch or backpack, but it also could be a pet or a child. So we’re really proud to have been the industry leader implementing this technology. And then of course across our portfolio as well.”
Morrow also showed The Atlanta Voice technology in place to ensure safe driving practices among teenaged drivers.
Buckle to Drive is standard in the 2020 Chevrolet Traverse, and when active can prevent the driver from shifting the vehicle out of park if the driver’s seat belt is not buckled.
Buckle to Drive is only available through the vehicle’s Teen Driver mode and builds upon Chevrolet’s Teen Driver system, introduced in 2015, as another step to help teen drivers stay safe on the road.
“Buckle to Drive is active within teen driver mode and it’s intended to be a really strong reminder to wear your seatbelt,” Morrow said. “We know that wearing your seatbelt is the number one thing you can do to protect yourself in a crash. And we know that teens don’t always put their seatbelts on. So it was designed really with an opportunity to teach them good driving habits and to wear that seatbelt right from the get-go.”
To use Teen Driver mode, a parent can enable the feature by creating a PIN in the Settings menu that allows them to register their teen’s key fob. The Teen Driver settings are turned on only when a registered key fob is used to start the vehicle.
Morrow explained that if the vehicle is on and the driver’s seat belt is not buckled, the feature is designed to not allow the driver to shift out of park for up to 20 seconds.
When active, Teen Driver automatically mutes the radio until the driver and front passenger seat belts are fastened. The radio system’s maximum volume can also be set to a lower level.
Parents can select a speed warning (between 40-75 mph) that if exceeded activates a visual warning and audible chime. Further, parents can also choose to limit the maximum speed of the vehicle to 85 mph.
When the brake pedal is pressed, the driver will hear an audible alert and see a message in the driver information center that reads, “Buckle seat belt to shift.”
