Brilliant new device could save kids from hot car deaths -- and it was invented by this 11-year-old
An 11-year-old boy in McKinney, TX has produced a prototype of a device designed to prevent the deaths of children in hot cars.
According to CBS News, Bishop Curry was inspired to invent the device after seeing a TV news report about the death of a 6-month-old baby who was left unattended in a hot car in Curry's neighborhood.
"It made him sad, and at that point, the wheels started turning in his mind," said Bishop's father, Bishop Curry IV, to CBS. "He came up with a way to prevent it from happening."
The father said that he came home from work one day to be greeted by his son waving a piece of paper saying he'd invented something called "Oasis."
"When he showed me that sketch I was so proud of him for thinking of a solution," Curry said. "We always just complain about things and rarely offer solutions."
The boy created an internal cooling system with a fan mounted either on a front or rear headrest. Oasis uses GPS technology to detect when the vehicle has come to a stop and begins to monitor the air temperature. If it reaches a certain point, the fan turns on, blowing cool air on the child in their car seat.
Bishop the younger wasn't content to stop there, however, Oasis also sends a signal to the child's parents via WiFi and if they do not respond promptly, the device calls for help, sending the child's location to authorities.
CBS said, "With help from a GoFundMe campaign that has raised nearly $40,000 since it launched back in January, Bishop was able to get a provisional patent and build a 3-D model of the device."
Bishop Curry the father works for Toyota. He showed the device to his employers and they were impressed enough to send father and son to the Center for Child Injury Prevention Conference, where they presented the prototype for consideration by manufacturers.
The safety organization Kids and Cars says an average of 37 children die each year in hot cars. Texas is the No. 1 U.S. state for child hot car deaths with 121 children dying from heat-related illnesses after being left in cars since 1990.
Last week, a 25-year-old Texas woman was arrested and jailed after her 2-year-old daughter and infant son died from being locked in a hot car "to teach them a lesson."
Watch the video, embedded below: