Japan introduces alarms in school buses to prevent children from being forgotten

Japan is implementing an alarm system on school buses to prevent children from being left behind. The system will require drivers to walk through the entire bus and turn off an alarm at the back of the vehicle, ensuring that no children are still aboard. This move comes in response to a tragic incident in which a 3-year-old child died from heatstroke after being forgotten on a bus in September 2022.

All of Japan's 44,000 school buses must have the alarm system in place by April 2024. The system will also send a warning message to the school or daycare center if a child is detected by security cameras and microphones.