(NEW YORK) — Inflation data released on Wednesday revealed that price increases slowed in July, easing the strain on household budgets as the Federal Reserve fights inflation with a series of borrowing cost hikes that in theory should slow down the economy, slash demand and cut prices.
While still elevated, price hikes waned from the near-historic pace reached in June, giving hope to policymakers and consumers that inflation has peaked.
The consumer price index, or CPI, rose 8.5% year-over-year in July, a marked slowdown from 9.1% in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
On a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose 1.3% in July, remaining unchanged from the rise seen in June, according to the bureau.
The inflation data arrives as other indicators have sent mixed signals about the the economy in recent weeks.
A slowdown in the inflation rate emerged in part because the national average price of gasoline, which makes up a key portion of the consumer price index, has declined for more than 50 consecutive days, according to AAA.
Meanwhile, a government report on Friday revealed that hiring in July more than doubled economists’ expectations, defying Fed efforts to slow the economy and rebuking fears of a recession.
The significant uptick in hiring last month — an added 528,000 jobs and unemployment rate drop to 3.5% — came alongside elevated wage increases that may put upward pressure on consumer prices.
The heightened wage increases match a pattern that stretches back months. A closely observed measure of U.S. wages, called unit-labor costs, rose 9.5% over the second quarter of this year, the fastest rise of that metric since the first quarter of 1982, according to data released by the federal government on Tuesday.
When facing high inflation, policymakers fear what’s referred to as a price-wage spiral, in which a rise in prices prompts workers to demand raises that help them afford goods, which in turn pushes up prices, leading to a self-perpetuating cycle of runaway inflation.
The Fed has sought to avoid a price-wage spiral with a series of borrowing cost increases, Maurice Obstfeld, a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, told ABC News. At meetings in each of the past two months, the central bank has increased its benchmark interest rate 0.75% — dramatic hikes last matched in 1994.
“The data is telling us not that rate hikes have been ineffective but that the Fed will have to go quite a bit further,” Obstfeld said.
However, other data suggests that inflation fears have waned significantly.
A survey released by the New York Federal Reserve on Monday showed that consumers expect inflation to slow down.
Individuals who responded to the July survey said they expect inflation to run at a 6.2% pace over the next year and a 3.2% rate for the next three years, both of which marked significant declines from the inflation expectations expressed by consumers in the month prior.
(NEW YORK) — Inflation data set for release Wednesday will show whether sky-high price increases accelerated or waned in July.
The new data arrives as costs strain household budgets, and the Federal Reserve tries to dial back inflation with a series of interest rate hikes that in theory should slow down the economy, slash demand and cut prices.
Economists expect the report to show the consumer price index rose 8.7% year-over-year in July, according to the median of results from a Bloomberg survey. While still high, that figure would comprise a slowdown from the 9.1% rate in June, which marked the fastest pace of inflation since 1981.
But data has sent mixed signals about the the economy in recent weeks, prompting uncertainty about how prices will respond.
Expectations of a slowdown in the inflation rate have emerged in part because the national average price of gasoline, which makes up a key portion of the consumer price index, has declined for more than 50 consecutive days, according to AAA.
Meanwhile, a government report on Friday revealed that hiring in July more than doubled economists’ expectations, defying Fed efforts to slow the economy and rebuking fears of a recession.
The significant uptick in hiring last month — an added 528,000 jobs and unemployment rate drop to 3.5% — came alongside elevated wage increases that may put upward pressure on consumer prices.
The heightened wage increases match a pattern that stretches back months. A closely observed measure of U.S. wages, called unit-labor costs, rose 9.5% over the second quarter of this year, the fastest rise of that metric since the first quarter of 1982, according to data released by the federal government on Tuesday.
When facing high inflation, policymakers fear what’s referred to as a price-wage spiral, in which a rise in prices prompts workers to demand raises that help them afford goods, which in turn pushes up prices, leading to a self-perpetuating cycle of runaway inflation.
The Fed has sought to avoid a price-wage spiral with a series of borrowing cost increases, Maurice Obstfeld, a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, told ABC News. At meetings in each of the past two months, the central bank has increased its benchmark interest rate 0.75% — dramatic hikes last matched in 1994.
“The data is telling us not that rate hikes have been ineffective but that the Fed will have to go quite a bit further,” Obstfeld said.
However, other data suggests that inflation fears have waned significantly.
A survey released by the New York Federal Reserve on Monday showed that consumers expect inflation to slow down. Individuals who responded to the July survey said they expect inflation to run at a 6.2% pace over the next year and a 3.2% rate for the next three years, both of which marked significant declines from the inflation expectations expressed by consumers in the month prior.
(NEW YORK) — Travelers facing surging summer prices can expect good news as domestic airfare is expected to drop by nearly 40% in the coming fall months, according to data from the travel booking platform Hopper.
According to Hopper data, round-trip domestic airfare is expected to drop about 38% from its peak summer prices in September and October. Round-trip domestic airfare is expected to run around $238 on average, which is $142 cheaper than high summer fares.
Some of the best deals for domestic travel, according to Hopper, are to San Diego, California, which runs about $252 round-trip on average — a savings of $230 from peak summer prices. Airfare to Salt Lake City, Utah, is averaging $242 round-trip, which is down about $200 from summer. And round-trip prices to Los Angeles, California, will go for $246 on average during the fall months.
International airfare prices, meanwhile, are set to fall by about 19% — good news for those looking to embark on overseas adventures, now that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has dropped COVID-19 restrictions for international travel.
Hopper says travelers can find flights to Grenada, Grenada, for $483 round-trip, which is a savings of $460 from peak summer prices. Travelers can find trips to Zurich, Switzerland, for $691, which is a savings of $275. And round-trip airfare to Bali, Indonesia, can be found for $1,183, down $431 from summer peaks.
Travel experts at Hopper advise that travelers book domestic trips at least three weeks in advance. They advise that prices will begin to rise quickly in the final few weeks before the trip.
For international travel plans, the experts advise booking at least one month in advance, noting that now is a good time to get the best price. Experts also advise being flexible on days you travel. Hopper says that mid-week flights and hotel stays can save big bucks compared to weekend trips.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a multibillion-dollar bill to boost domestic computer chip manufacturing and more, touting the bipartisan package as “a once-in-a-generation investment in America itself.”
The law — known as the CHIPS and Science Act — spends nearly $53 billion to spur research in and development of America’s semiconductor industry. It is intended to address a nearly two-year global chip shortage that stemmed from supply chain issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Semiconductors are common in everyday items from cell phones to cars to microwaves and more; experts compare them to the “brain” for any machine with a computer system.
Tuesday’s event coincided with GlobalFoundries, Micron and Qualcomm announcing partnerships and investments that total nearly $45 billion.
Micron’s $40-billion investment “will bring the U.S. market share of memory chip production from less than 2 percent to up to 10 percent over the next decade,” the White House said in a statement.
The bill enacted Tuesday also has a national defense angle, its supporter say, as Congress and the White House look to bolster chip production domestically.
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, a lobbying group focused on semiconductor manufacturing, the U.S. produces 12% of the world’s chips, down from 37% in 1990.
At the signing event, Biden was joined by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“In the last six weeks alone, we passed not only CHIPS and Science, but also veterans’ health care, gun safety, NATO and now the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has passed the Senate,” Schumer said, referring to the recent reconciliation spending bill that Democrats narrowly approved last weekend.
That package had temporarily created turmoil for CHIPS in Congress.
Following a surprise agreement between Schumer and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia that revived the IRA, some Republicans said they felt slighted by the Democratic progress on a party-line reconciliation package mere hours after CHIPS passed the upper chamber with a bipartisan majority.
Despite that consternation, Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Todd Young of Indiana attended Tuesday’s bill signing. Young led the GOP in negotiations on the bill, which ultimately passed the Senate 64-33 on July 27.
“I don’t want to get you in trouble, but you did a hell of a job,” Biden said to the two Republicans.
The president, at times, spoke through a thick, wet cough during the ceremony. The White House has said he repeatedly tested negative for COVID over the weekend, and he subsequently left isolation after a rebound case of the infection.
Biden did not mention the FBI’s Monday search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, which Trump decried as political persecution. (Sources told ABC News the operation was related to the 15 boxes of documents that Trump took when he departed the White House, some of which the National Archives has said were marked classified.)
A White House official previously told ABC News the administration was not aware of the search in advance, referring questions to the Department of Justice.
ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
(LOS ANGELES) — The parents of a 12-year-old California girl who died last year after an accident involving an electric bike, or e-bike, say they want to see change.
Kaye and Jonathan Steinsapir, the parents of Molly Steinsapir, have filed a lawsuit against Rad Power Bikes, a Seattle-based e-bike company.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior County Court, Molly and her 11-year-old best friend were riding a RadRunner bike on Jan. 31, 2021, with Molly riding on the back. As the friends were going down a steep hill, the bike, “began to shake and wobble, causing the bike to crash.”
Molly died on Feb. 15, 2021, after undergoing multiple brain surgeries and spending more than two weeks in the hospital, with her parents by her side.
“I massaged her hands and her feet and sang to her and read to her,” Kaye Steinsapir, whose tweets about Molly’s fight to survive started a following known as “Team Molly,” told ABC News. “I read the book that her class was reading because I didn’t want her to be behind when she woke up.”
In their lawsuit, the Steinsapirs claim that the model of bike Molly was riding, Rad Power Bikes’ RadRunner, has “multiple design defects,” including an issue with the brakes and front wheel that, according to the lawsuit, “in some cases can cause the wheel to come all the way off.”
The family claims in the lawsuit that Rad Power Bikes, “knew or should have known that this was an unsafe and defective design.”
“Rad Power Bikes was aware of this issue or had been made aware of this issue, and they never redesigned their bike,” Jonathan Steinsapir told Good Morning America in his family’s first television interview about the lawsuit. “So this was, what we believe, was preventable.”
E-bikes have a motor and often have more power than a normal bike.
Rad Power Bikes’ RadRunner model is capable of reaching speeds up to 20 miles per hour, according to the lawsuit.
Molly was wearing a helmet while riding the e-bike, according to her parents. The maker of the helmet Molly was wearing, Giro Sport Design, is also named in the lawsuit.
Giro Sport Design did not reply to ABC News’ request for comment.
Rad Power Bikes told ABC News in a statement it “extends its deepest condolences to the Steinsapir family.”
The company said it does not comment on pending litigation.
In the lawsuit, the Steinsapirs claim the owner’s manual for the RadRunner, the type of bike Molly was riding, says in small print on page 49, out of 57 pages, it is “designed for use by persons 18 years and older. The lawsuit alleges that Rad Power Bikes “knows children will operate” the bike since the company’s website includes what the suit describes as “glowing reviews from adults” about buying the bike for their children.
“Let’s be honest, no one reads manuals. We all know that,” Jonathan Steinsapir said. “The first step Rad should have is something on the bike itself warning about age appropriateness.”
The Steinsapirs said they are filing the lawsuit in hopes of preventing tragedy for another family.
“I would much rather just walk away from this and just go on with my life,” Jonathan Steinsapir said. “But you know, the next child who dies or is paralyzed because of this issue that they refuse to address, I mean I couldn’t possibly live with myself with that.”
Added his wife, Kaye, “Every single time I just hear Molly. I hear her voice say, ‘Mom, it’s not okay. It’s not right,’ that that’s who Molly was. She is somebody who stood up for what is right and no matter what the personal cost, and there is tremendous personal cost to us in pursuing this litigation.”
Dr. Charles DiMaggio, a faculty member in the department of surgery, division of trauma and critical care at New York University School of Medicine, told ABC News that e-bikes represent “potentially a revolution” in how people get around, but that they need to be considered with safety first.
“They need to be introduced in a safe way,” DiMaggio said. “Engineering them in a way so that they stop and brake appropriately and safely, so that they are not necessarily going faster than they need to go and by marketing them to the appropriate age groups.”
Greg Billing, executive Director at the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, told ABC News in an interview in 2020 that accidents with e-bikes can and do happen — that’s why it’s imperative for users to practice safety.
“It is a different skill than just riding a bike,” Billing said then. “Which is why we encourage people when they are starting to use e-bikes to really practice and understand how to handle the power of the bike and make sure that they feel comfortable before they get out on the road or on a trail around other people or cars.”
Taiwanese Foreign Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan last week, the world braced for China’s response. Within hours of her departure, China began military exercises around Taiwan, leaving the world wondering how far China is willing to take its response.
Evidence suggests China will not stop at military drills.
“The last time we [saw] a crisis like this was in 1996,” Kai Hao Yang, assistant professor of economics at Yale School of Management, told ABC News. “At that time [the] computer chips market was not dominated by Taiwan manufacturers yet, plus the market was a lot smaller than it is right now.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping warned of economic consequences during a call with President Joe Biden before Pelosi’s trip.
So how would U.S. consumers be impacted? First, China could hamstring Taiwan’s ability to export products. Taiwan is one of the United States’ top 10 trade partners. In addition to vehicles and machinery — important Taiwanese imports — the island is also home to TSMC, the largest manufacturer of computer processor chips in the world.
“Some people talk about China blockading Taiwan’s ports so Taiwan’s chips can’t go out,” Ming-Jen Lin, professor of economics at National Taiwan University, said in an email to ABC News. “If this really happens, it’s another story. But I think we are far from there.”
If China took this action, it could force U.S. tech companies to use chips manufactured in the U.S., which would increase prices for consumers.
“The unit cost of producing a chip is 50% higher in the U.S. than in Taiwan,” Lin said.
The second way China’s retaliation threatens the American consumer is if Beijing chooses to impose economic penalties on U.S. trade. These actions could mean rising prices for American consumers and more supply-chain headaches.
“Chinese escalation could further exacerbate the supply-chain problem we’re facing right now,” Yang said.
Former U.S. ambassador to China and former U.S. senator, Max Baucus, is more optimistic about the fallout.
“I think there’ll be short-term disruption,” Baucus told ABC News, “but I don’t think long term because business is so important to both countries.”
China is at a crossroads with where to go next. A war would be catastrophic and business sanctions are less than ideal.
“China worships at the altar of stability,” Baucus said. “And they want to keep the country’s economy stable. And that means business.”
For many decades, American consumers have valued China’s ability to produce inexpensive goods. Those days, however, could be numbered.
“The cheap price era of the past 20 years is definitely over,” Lin pointed out. “I am not saying it will happen overnight, but definitely gradually.”
For now, American consumers have more to be worried about, like 40-year-high inflation and a possible recession. But economic uncertainty lies ahead as China and U.S. communication finds itself at a standstill.
(NEW YORK) — Snapchat announced a new in-app family center on Tuesday, which is designed to start conversations between parents and minors about safer social media usage.
In the new family center, parents will have the ability to see which Snapchat friends have sent their children messages, photos or videos within the last week. Parents will also have the option to report any suspicious or concerning accounts to Snapchat’s trust and safety teams, the company said.
Snapchat’s move is part of a growing trend of social media companies attempting to deal with real-world relationships and safety on a digital plane.
“I think there were three things that probably rushed into my mind immediately, which were well done, it’s about time, and let’s keep going,” Chris McKenna, the founder of Protect Young Eyes, an organization focused on creating safer digital spaces for kids, told ABC News.
Experts said the key to a healthier relationship with families while living in a digital age still starts with communication and cooperation.
“Now, of course, those parents or guardians are not going to be able to see the content of any chats or content being exchanged between individuals, but at least they’ll have a better idea of who they’re talking to,” Dr. Sameer Hinduja, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and professor of Criminology at Florida Atlantic University, told ABC News. “And ideally that will lead to the promotion of additional conversations related to safety, related to security and privacy and trust.”
Snapchat is not the only social media company to take this route. Instagram released similar safety updates last year, and social media companies have come under increased scrutiny recently for their misinformation and abuse online. Instagram now has a feature that allows parents and guardians to set time limits on their teens while using the app and a break reminder feature, both of which are not on Snapchat’s family center.
“It’s a very complicated challenge, trying to find a tool that’s going to sort of answer and provide an opportunity to help make that process maybe a little bit easier for parents, but at the same time, sort of respect the autonomy of the teens that are using the products as well,” Emily Mulder, a program director at the Family Online Safety Institute, told ABC News.
Teens have also been feeling this shift in how families deal with digital safety and what it means for their privacy as they grow up in an increasingly connected world.
“Personally, I don’t think I would use it,” Ashleigh Facey, a 17-year-old high schooler who’s concerned about her personal privacy, told ABC News. “I can see why they want to do that though, because there’s kids that are like really young using these apps now.”
Heather Facey, Ashleigh’s mother, feels differently about the matter and likes the idea of a family center on social media.
“Absolutely, I think that would be great. That type of thing is what parents want to hear about,” she said. “It would be something I would most definitely want to have access to and implement.”
Experts like McKenna, who is also a parent, agree, but he said direct communication is still the best way to grow healthy familial bonds.
“There is no parental control that replaces the need for amazing parents who have intentional, truthful, direct, frequent, persistent and consistent conversations with your children. There’s no toggle that replaces you….No passive parenting in the digital age,” McKenna said.
(NEW YORK) — Mattel has brought back one of its most iconic dolls: Barbie Totally Hair.
Since initially debuting 30 years ago, the toymaker has released an updated version of the ’90s doll. The original launch was available in blond or brunette hair colors and came with an accompanying styling gel.
Barbie’s new take on the doll includes four dolls with their own unique hairstyles, textures, fashion looks and themes. Each doll also has a really long mane of 8.5 inches of hair — reaching down to its ankles.
Children also get to enjoy the doll’s vibrant pops of hair color, as well as more than 15 styling accessories that include everything from color-changing hair clips to scrunchies.
“Totally hot, totally cool! Totally Hair #Barbie is back for the ultimate throwback, with a look inspired by our original bestselling doll with extra-long hair and rockin’ accessories,” the brand captioned a video of the new assortment of dolls on Instagram.
The latest Totally Hair lineup features four dolls centered around star, heart, flower and butterfly themes — with each having its own fun flair.
“Thirty years ago, we made waves with Barbie Totally Hair, which would go on to become the bestselling Barbie doll of all time,” Mattel Executive Vice President and Global Head of Barbie & Dolls Lisa McKnight said in a statement.
She continued, “This year we’re headed back to our roots with the release of our 30th anniversary Totally Hair dolls, leaning into the nostalgia factor and bringing back all 8.5 inches of magical and playable hair for young kids to act out their most imaginative Totally Hair storylines. Hair has always been a huge part of Barbie’s identity, so it was a dream come true to add some 2022 flair on one of our most iconic dolls.”
The new Barbie Totally Hair Doll assortment is currently available at select online retailers and will be sold at more mass retailers later this fall.
(NEW YORK) — Wild swings in the share price of a largely unknown Hong Kong-based fintech company in recent days have reminded some analysts and traders of the “meme stock” craze, which grabbed headlines and stoked controversy early last year.
On Tuesday, the stock price of online financial services company AMTD Digital was more than 21,000% above the price at its initial public offering last month.
The price fell in recent days to end the week well below the earlier peak but still, as of market close Friday, the stock price stood at $721, which amounts to a 127% jump for the week and a 9,143% increase since its IPO. The stock debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on July 15 at $7.80 per share.
At the height of AMTD Digital’s stock rise on Tuesday, the company reached a valuation of $310 billion, making it larger than Coca-Cola and Bank of America, according to FactSet. The nearly 3-year-old company brought in just $25 million in revenue last year, according to a regulatory filing.
The dramatic rise in the company’s stock price owes to a targeted surge in online retail trading akin to that which sent shares skyrocketing in companies like GameStop and AMC early last year, Dan Ives, an equities analyst at Wedbush Securities, told ABC News.
Some observers, however, questioned the designation of AMTD Digital as a meme stock.
The phenomenon of a meme stock trade describes a trend in which retail investors see shares rise steeply as others back a firm, then more jump into the fray, pushing the stock price further upward and enticing another wave of investors. A surge of such trades last year prompted a congressional hearing and investigation.
AMTD Digital did not respond to a request for comment. But a statement released by the company on Tuesday expressed gratitude to investors for the support, while acknowledging the stock is “still undergoing our initial stabilization period.”
“During the period since our initial public offering, the Company noted significant volatility in our ADS price and also observed some very active trading volume,” AMTD Digital said.
“To our knowledge, there are no material circumstances, events nor other matters relating to our Company’s business and operating activities since the IPO date,” the company added.
Citron Research, an equity research firm, rebuked the designation of AMTD Digital as a meme stock, citing the relatively low trading volume of shares in the fintech company compared with the run-up last year of GameStop, which trades under the symbol GME.
“$HKD is NOT a meme stock,” Citron Research tweeted on Wednesday, referring to AMTD Digital by its stock ticker HKD. “Has not captured the imagination of retail traders like $GME.”
Citron Research said in the tweet that 339,000 shares of AMTD Digital were traded on Tuesday.
Almost 900,000 individual accounts traded shares of GameStop each day at the height of the trading frenzy last January, a dramatic rise from less than 10,000 accounts each day earlier that month, a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation found.
Still, the volatility in the price of AMTD Digital renewed a debate among some over meme stock trading.
“So we’re all just going to ignore the $400B meme stock in the room?” prominent short-seller Jim Chanos tweeted of AMTD Digital on Tuesday. “We literally had Congressional hearings over the $30B runs of $GME and $AMC, but just [crickets] today.”
Ives, of Wedbush, said the volatility of AMTD Digital in recent days shows that the emergence of a meme stock remains possible, even if it has become less common.
“This is more the rarity than the norm,” he said. “Most of that is in the rearview mirror.”
“But the situation brought to light that the meme era still has oxygen,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — An average of 38 children die every year in hot cars.
Tuesday marked the 14th hot car death in the U.S. this year, a number that is expected to rise as heat waves continue across the country.
These tragic deaths are 100% preventable “if we can use a little tech to help,” said Janette Fennell, the founder and president of Kids and Car Safety, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing injuries and death to children from vehicle-related incidents. Fennell has been ringing the alarm bell on hot car deaths for more than 15 years.
“We have begged the auto industry to do something,” she went on. “It’s an uphill battle. But we’re on the cusp of things that need to happen.”
To Fennell that means honking vehicles that flash lights and send text alerts to drivers — even nearby strangers — that a child has been accidentally forgotten in the back seat or has surreptitiously climbed inside a vehicle.
“Cars remind you to check your tire pressure, to shut off your lights, to take your key,” she argued. “To really end these terrible fatalities, we have to be able to detect when there’s a living being locked in a vehicle and alert anyone who can come to their aid.”
Automakers have been researching various technologies for decades. Ed Kim, president and chief analyst at automotive consulting firm AutoPacific, said General Motors deserves credit for being the first automaker to address the issue of rear seat warnings in 2001. The industry committed in 2019 to placing a back seat reminder in every new vehicle by 2025.
“Market research shows safety and security are some of the most important things for consumers when buying a vehicle,” Kim told ABC News.
Many vehicles now display safety alerts in the gauge cluster. Some of the tech can be manually disabled, prompting concerns that drivers may become indifferent to it.
Simon Roberts, a father of two small children and an engineer at Toyota Connected North America, said Toyota has been aggressively working toward a solution to the issue, one that’s becoming more perilous with each year as temperatures spike. In May, the Japanese automaker introduced its “Cabin Awareness” concept, which is currently undergoing real-world testing with May Mobility, an autonomous-vehicle company.
“We want to be an extra set of virtual eyes if you will,” Roberts told ABC News. “We don’t like the status quo and won’t accept it.”
The Cabin Awareness concept deploys millimeter-wave, high-resolution 4D imaging radar to determine if a person or pet has been left behind in a locked vehicle. The imaging radar sensor, located above the headliner, can detect a life form even after a driver exits, according to Toyota. If a child or pet is locked inside, warning signals will light up on the instrument cluster. The vehicle will make noise and the driver may get notifications via the Toyota app as well as text messages, the company said. Moreover, the technology can send alerts through smart home devices or send text messages to designated emergency contacts.
Roberts said the team is also currently exploring vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications to get the attention of passersby. The engineering team took inspiration from a microwave radar technology created by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory that was able to detect human breathing and heartbeats under more than 30 feet of rubble after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in 2015.
“Good people make mistakes and this can happen to any of us,” Roberts said. “This is a big issue we need to solve.”
Roberts pointed out that opening windows in a locked car can still cause heat stroke and death for occupants inside. More than 900 children have died of heatstroke since 1998, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A child can die when his or her body temperature reaches 107 degrees and a child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s, NHTSA states on its website.
Korean automaker Hyundai first rolled out its Ultrasonic Rear Occupant Alert sensor in the Palisade SUV for model year 2020. The sophisticated sensing-based alert sets off blinking lights, honks the horn and sends a text message via Hyundai’s telematics Bluelink connected car system, directing the driver to immediately check the back seat. Though the Ultrasonic technology is only available in select models for now, a Hyundai spokesperson said a Rear Occupant Alert (ROA) system comes standard in 99% of the company’s vehicles. When the driver shut offs the vehicle, a reminder pops up on the instrument panel to check the rear seat.
“We’re trying to be pioneers in this space,” Brian Latouf, chief safety officer of Hyundai Motor North America, told ABC News. “We’re paying close attention to this issue and messaging and communication are important.”
Right now there are limitations to the Ultrasonic sensor, Latouf noted. The vehicle has to be locked for an alert to be sent via the Bluelink system and not all Hyundai drivers are connected to the Bluelink app. The ultrasonic sensor looks for motion so a sleeping child may not trigger the system, he added. The vehicle, however, will still honk and display the “check rear seat” message on the instrument panel dash.
“We’re learning from Ultrasonic to make it more accurate and we are considering finer-tuned systems like infrared technology,” Latouf said.
Electric carmaker Tesla launched its “Dog Mode” in 2019 so owners could keep their pets in an air-conditioned cabin while the vehicle was unattended. A message on the large screen says “My owner will be back soon” and displays the temperature inside.
Kim, like Fennell, said these alerts — while largely helpful — can cause drivers to become inured to the constant warnings. The current tech may also desensitize motorists to real emergencies and create liabilities for companies.
“Certainly there is a risk if a warning becomes such a part of the routine that you just start ignoring it. That’s definitely a concern,” Kim said. “There are people who will get so accustomed to the warning that it becomes meaningless and they don’t pay attention to it anymore.”
He added, “Having the alert is better than not having it and this feature doesn’t cost much for an automaker to implement.”
Brian Moody, executive editor of Kelley Blue Book, said these warning systems add an “extra level of sophistication” to the vehicle and are an important selling point. The larger debate may be whether automakers are liable if the alert technology fails in a car with children and pets inside, he said.
“At some level there has to be personal responsibility,” Moody told ABC News.
There are ways to prevent hot car deaths without technology: teaching children to honk the horn if they get stuck inside or placing an important item in the rear as a reminder. Fennell said she’ll keep pushing for more advancements until no child dies in a hot car. If Toyota’s Concept Cabin system becomes a reality, Roberts said the company would be open to sharing its technology with industry competitors.
“This is a social good initiative,” he said. “If we can help the industry move forward, why wouldn’t we do that?”
