ANCAP have released a stricter vehicle safety criteria for 2023, which includes an alert system that detects when a child has been left alone in a locked car.

Josh Dowling, National Motoring editor at Drive.com.au told Mark Gibson on Perth Live that ANCAP is also mandating that cars need to be able to detect whether a child is in front of or behind a car.

“We’ve learnt over 10-15 years that car companies have gotten very good at protecting the occupants after a crash has occurred – and what they’re trying to do now is prevent the crash from happening in the first place,” Mr Dowling told Mark.

“We’ve tested quite a few number of cars that already tell you to check all seating positions, so I am not sure if they’ll wire it to sensors necessarily – but a few cars already do it for when you press the off button and you get that alert because sadly, we have seen instances on the news where people have forgotten their kids in the backseat.”

Press PLAY to hear the full changes to ANCAP’s new safety criteria