Speakers
Description
The Child Presence Detection (CPD) system plays a pivotal role in notifying drivers when a child is inadvertently left in a vehicle, a situation that has tragically led to an increase in child mortality rates over time. The system's efficacy is contingent upon the driver's auditory acuity, which previous research has shown to be significantly influenced by age. Despite this, there is currently no established standard or guideline specifying a car alarm's minimum or optimal sound pressure level (SPL) necessary to notify drivers of a child trapped inside the vehicle effectively. This research aimed to ascertain the most suitable SPL for a vehicle alarm system that would efficiently notify drivers of two separate age categories (37-46 years and 47 years and older). This was achieved through experimental analysis, specifically by physically assessing the car alarm's auditory perception. The results indicated that to effectively alert drivers in the first age group (37-46 years), a minimum car alarm SPL of 83.6 dBA is required. In comparison, for the second age group (47 years and above), a minimum SPL of 85.5 dBA is necessary. These findings could provide valuable insights for supervisory bodies and automobile manufacturers in developing an outline to determine the optimum SPL of a car alarm, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the CPD system.
