Pittsburgh-based tech company launches self-installing car seat
Despite the love parents have for their children, most fail to properly restrain their kids inside of vehicles.
PITTSBURGH - Despite the love parents have for their children, most fail to properly restrain their kids inside of vehicles. Research suggests as many as 80% of all car seats are incorrectly installed.
"So, that was our motivation to help give parents total confidence and total peace of mind that their car seat was installed securely every single time," said 4moms director of product development Mara McFadden.
4moms, a Pittsburgh-based tech company, developed and recently launched a self-installing car seat. Using robotics technology and dozens of sensors, the infant car seat base levels and tightens itself at the touch of a button.
"We heard again and again and again from moms that they had been always asking the dad to do the installation because they were afraid they weren't strong enough to get it really tight," said McFadden.
An app walks parents through the set up, which takes about five minutes. The first check is to ensure the base is level in the car, even if the vehicle is parked on an incline. The app will verify what seat within the car is the safest for the base to be installed. Notifications are sent when a child's height and weight would require parents to adjust the harness and headrest.
The technology also verifies the seat's installation before and during every single car ride. Another safety feature of the car seat is an alert that would be sent to your phone if you happen to leave the seat attached to the base and walk out of blue-tooth range. It reminds people to make sure their child is not left unattended.
"When you think about your car, there is so much technology packed in it. You get a reminder if your seat belt isn't buckled. You get a reminder if you are out of windshield wiper fluid, but nobody has taken that same technology and applied it to the most important passenger in the car," said McFadden.
Popular Science Magazine just awarded 4moms the 2016 Best of What's New Award for its self-installing car seat. The seat and base run about $500. The base can be purchased separately for around $300.
