Unveiling Optimal Car Alarm’s Sound Pressure Level (SPL) for Effective Alerting of Drivers on Locked Children in Cars: Insights from a Physical Survey

Abstract

The Child Presence Detection (CPD) system is crucial in alerting drivers of a child locked in the car due to driver negligence resulting in the child death rate due to being locked in a car has increased over the years. The effectiveness of alerting drivers through car alarms depends on the hearing effectiveness of the driver. Previous studies have documented that age group has a critical impact on the effectiveness of hearing in individuals. At the same time, there is no specific standard or framework that underlines the optimal or minimum car alarm Sound Pressure Level (SPL) that is required to effectively alert drivers of a locked child in the car. The main objective of this study was to obtain an optimal SPL for the car alarm that effectively alerts drivers for two different age groups (17-26 years and 27-36 years) through experimental analysis (physical car alarm hearing assessment). It was found that a minimum SPL of the car alarm of 79.841 dBA and 83.179 dBA is required to effectively alert drivers for age group 1 (17-26 years) and age group 2 (27-36 years), respectively. Two mathematical models were constructed through this study to predict the maximum allowable distance and the time before the alarm sound is no longer effective in alerting the drivers. The findings of this study will be useful to regulators and car manufacturers in establishing a framework for determining the optimal SPL of the car alarm for an effective CPD system.