Local News

Young Texas Boy Invents Device That Could Put an End to Hot Car Deaths for Children

By  | 
Tony Maples Photography

 

Eleven-year-old Bishop Curry wanted to solve the issue of children passing away in hot cars. The inspired young Texas boy designed a plan for a fan that would not only automatically turn on when a vehicle interior reached a certain temperature, but would also send notices to parents’ mobile phones, alerting them to the danger. Calling it “Oasis,” the fan device would be positioned in order that it faces a child’s car seat from the headrest.

Young Texas Boy Invents Device That Could Put An End to Hot Car Deaths for Children

Photo: Facebook/BLACK BOY’S ROCK!

In an interview with CBS News, Curry explained, “The device detects if vehicle comes to stop, using GPS technology. It then detects if a child is in that car seat, and if the car is heating up. If all of those things are taking place it blows cold air on the child through an internal cooling system.” He also wanted to ensure that the device could connect to Wi-Fi, allowing for notifications to be issued to the parents if the fan was activated. If no response is received from the parents, it will also notify the police, providing the child’s location via GPS.

Young Texas Boy Invents Device That Could Put An End to Hot Car Deaths for Children

Photo: Pixabay

Data sourced from the Kids and Cars website by NY Daily News indicated that, since 1994, 804 children have died as a result of heat-related illness in cars in the U.S. Curry’s family was 100 percent in support of his motivation and determination, and a GoFundMe page was created for his idea in January, since raising more than $41,000 toward a patent for the idea. Curry’s father, Bishop Curry IV, is an engineer at Toyota. He presented his son’s design concept to the company, who then sent the father-son duo to Michigan for a safety conference.

Young Texas Boy Invents Device That Could Put An End to Hot Car Deaths for Children

Photo: Vimeo

The concept has been presented to car seat manufacturers, however, as of yet, no decision has been made for its mass manufacturing and distribution, although interest has been generated. Having heard about the death of a local six-month-old baby resulting from being left in a hot car, Curry was so motivated, that he came up with the prototype and also met with the child’s family. In an interview with NBC News, Curry said of the meeting, “They really supported me. They didn’t want anything [like that] to happen to any other families.”

Source:

NY Daily News

CBS News

NBC News