In the category of unintended consequences comes this story from Sara Steffens of the Oroville Mercury-Register. It seems that when it was determined to be safer to put our children in the back seat facing the rear, the incidents of children's deaths from being accidentally left in cars spiked drastically.

She found that between 1990 and 1992, before airbags became popular, 11 children died of hyperthermia after being left in cars. In 2003 and 2005, when parents had learned to buckle children in the backseat, deaths spiked to 119. This is particularly critical issue in the Valley, where the summer temperatures are extreme and cars can go from comfortable to deadly within minutes. Fortunately, There are two monitor sensors in development that could solve the problem. One device developed by NASA combines a car seat presence sensor with a key chain fob that beeps when the driver moves too far from the vehicle. A similar product, the ChildMinder, links a "Smart" chest clip to a keychain alarm. It's not yet available, either, but pre-orders are being taken online (www.babyalert.info)