GM's Back Seat Reminder - Helpful, or One More Annoying Alert?

[Gorehamj]

John Goreham
Contributing Writer, GM-Trucks.com
6/13/2016

General Motors just announced a new back seat reminder that will appear first on 2017 GMC Acadia vehicles. We have all heard the horrible stories of parents or caregivers who leave a child inside a car accidentally. This reminder is intended to eliminate those situations by reminding a driver to check the back seat.

 

Tricia Morrow, GM global safety strategy engineer, explained the system's intents, saying “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.”

 

GM's Rear Seat Reminder works by monitoring the Acadia’s rear door interaction. If a 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, the Acadia will sound an audible alert and display a message in the driver's gauge cluster that reads, “Rear Seat Reminder / Look in Rear Seat.”

 

Who would ever question a viable solution to a child safety challenge? Nobody, of course, but will this new message be tuned out by drivers the same way blind spot alerts, lane departure warnings, and other alerts are? What about that ridiculous "Don't do anything stupid..." legal disclaimer we are forced to see on our Nav screens. Are those messages helping? Also, on some vehicles a message already appears when one is about to exit. For example, my son noticed that my 2016 VW Passat tester showed a message that said "Don't forget your cell phone." After days with the car I had never read it.

 

What say you GM fans? Is this a helpful feature, or just one more of the many messages we will all tune out?

[MikeNH]

Seems like an annoyance. If I just load something that I don't intend on unloading it would be another annoying sound. If an adult is too distracted to forget they have a child in back, a little beep and message won't do anything. People are stupid these days and don't understand half of what their vehicle does.

[Chris]

Seems like an annoyance. If I just load something that I don't intend on unloading it would be another annoying sound. If an adult is too distracted to forget they have a child in back, a little beep and message won't do anything. People are stupid these days and don't understand half of what their vehicle does.

A 48 pack of Kirkland Signature Light Beer is the weight of a small child

[Beer Belly]

My idea is a Sensor that you place in a Child Seat, that is weight activated, and if you leave the car / truck with a child in the seat, it senses the missing key FOB and blows the car horn, or chirps.....no child, no weight, no chirp / horn

[Chris]

My idea is a Sensor that you place in a Child Seat, that is weight activated, and if you leave the car / truck with a child in the seat, it senses the missing key FOB and blows the car horn, or chirps.....no child, no weight, no chirp / horn

But as i mentioned, a pack of beer or cola from Costco weighs as much as a small child. With the heat where I live, canned and pressurized beverages get loaded in the back seat instead of the bed. Can make the weekly shopping trips rather annoying.

[Beer Belly]

But as i mentioned, a pack of beer or cola from Costco weighs as much as a small child. With the heat where I live, canned and pressurized beverages get loaded in the back seat instead of the bed. Can make the weekly shopping trips rather annoying.

I was referring to a sensor in Child seat.

[Chris]

I was referring to a sensor in Child seat.

Ok, im thinking the back seat cusion itself like the front passenger seat airbag sensor.

[Dale L]

Is there any way to disable the reminder?

[Dnt]

Turned mine off in the settings menu.