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General Motors Rear Seat Reminder Technology

Rear Seat Reminder is a General Motors convenience technology that reminds drivers to check the back seat as they exit their vehicle under certain circumstances. The technology is intended to help drivers remember things in the back seat.

Purpose

When announcing Rear Seat Reminder in June 2016, General Motors cited the following two statistics:

  1. Each year in the United States, about half of the children under the age of 14 who die of in-vehicle heatstroke do so as a result of being forgotten.
  2. With nearly 23 percent of larceny in 2014 being from a motor vehicle, according to the FBI, items left in the back seat are a target for theft.

As such, GM’s Rear Seat Reminder technology aims to eliminate or decrease the frequency of these events.

“Acadia drivers live busy lives with demanding schedules, and the Rear Seat Reminder helps protect the things we care about most,” said Tricia Morrow, GM global safety strategy engineer. “Whether it’s your lunch, laptop, pet or most importantly, your child, it’s easier than it seems to forget what’s in the back seat when moving between life’s events. With this new feature, we are leading the charge to address this ongoing problem.”

“General Motors has developed a new technology for the GMC Acadia, the Rear Seat Reminder, to give busy parents an important reminder to check the back seat before leaving the car,” said Kate Carr, president and CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide. “Technology alone cannot solve the issue of heatstroke when it comes to young children, but this new Acadia reminder can help. We must always remember that the safest way to protect a child from heatstroke is to never leave a child unattended in a vehicle.”

How It Works

The Rear Seat Reminder works by monitoring the vehicle’s rear doors. The feature activates when either rear door is opened and closed within 10 minutes before the vehicle is started, or if they are opened and closed while the vehicle is running.

Under these circumstances, the next time the vehicle is turned off after a door activation, the vehicle is designed to sound five audible chimes and display a message in the driver information center that reads, “Rear Seat Reminder / Look in Rear Seat.”

2017 GMC Acadia Rear Seat Reminder System

Since the feature cannot detect items in the backseat, GM recommends that users check the rear seat prior to exiting the vehicle.

Vehicle Availability

Rear Seat Reminder made its debut in the all-new 2017 GMC Acadia (not to be confused with the 2017 GMC Acadia Limited, on which the feature is not available). It is also standard on various other 2017 and 2018 model year GM vehicles, including:

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