This tech helps Hyundai car drivers check back seat without taking eyes off road

Hyundai Motor has implemented a technology that will help customers check the backseat while driving, or leaving the vehicle. This tech will help prevent accidents or instances when someone leaves behind a pet, or even a child, in the back seat by mistake.

“It only takes a second to check the back seat and save a child’s life on a hot summer day," said Brian Latouf, chief safety officer, Hyundai Motor North America. “We have great systems to help drivers remember to do just that, but there are lots of methods that work. All of them can save a life."

Hyundai will voluntarily make its Rear Occupant Alert (ROA) door-logic system standard on most of its new vehicles by 2022. It recently added standard ROA to the 2020 Sonata and Sonata Hybrid and will add the system to the all-new 2021 Elantra, by the end of the year.

Hyundai will also make its optional Ultrasonic Rear Occupant Alert, or a similar sensor-based system, available on more of its models in the future. It is available today in the popular Palisade and Santa Fe SUVs, vehicles most driven by families with young children.

NHTSA and Hyundai are now calling on the public via social media to help prevent children from dying in hot cars this summer.

Four Hyundai models are available today with door-logic ROA as standard equipment: the 2020 Santa Fe, Palisade, Sonata and Sonata Hybrid. Both of the SUVs have the Ultrasonic ROA available as an option. The 2019 Santa Fe also has the Ultrasonic ROA feature available as an option.

Hyundai currently offers two types of ROA systems to help prevent these tragedies from occurring. The ROA door-logic system detects if a rear door was opened or closed before the car was started, then reminds the driver to check the rear seat with a message on the centre cluster when exiting the vehicle. The Ultrasonic ROA has the door-logic technology and an ultrasonic sensor that helps to detect the movements of children and pets in the second-row seats. If the system detects movement in the second-row seats after the driver leaves the vehicle and locks the doors, it will honk the horn and send an alert to the driver’s smartphone via Hyundai’s Blue Link connected car system (if equipped with Blue Link and the Blue Link service is active).