Chevrolet is showing off an SUV at the Atlanta International Auto Show with a feature that could save lives.
The 2018 Equinox alerts drivers if they’ve left something in the back seat of the vehicle.
If you open the back seat of the Equinox, close the door, drive and then turn off the engine, you’ll hear five chimes and get an alert on your dashboard screen reading: “Look in rear seat.”
The vehicle doesn’t have a sensor to detect anything in your back seat; it only registers that the door has been opened and closed.
General Motors' announcement that this feature would appear in nearly two dozen vehicles came at a poignant time for Cobb County and all of metro Atlanta.
The announcement came the day after Cobb's Justin Ross Harris was sentenced to life in prison without parole on eight counts for killing his 22-month-old son Cooper by leaving him in a hot car.
The start-and-stop trial drew national attention. Whether Harris forgot Cooper or left him in 125-degree July heat to die was at the crux of the trial.
Attorneys defending Harris brought in a memory expert who told jurors that cases like Harris’ — no matter how tragic — can happen. Prosecutors claimed Harris killed his son because he wanted a child-free lifestyle.
At the beginning of the year, Harris' defense team began what will likely be a long appeal process.
You can see the alert yourself at the Georgia World Congress Center until Sunday.
Atlanta International Auto Show
Continues through 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
Georgia World Congress Center, C Building
$12 for adults, $6 for children ages 6-12, free for kids under 6
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