LegalReader.com  ·  Legal News, Analysis, & Commentary

HISTORY ARCHIVE

Feel Good Friday: Ten-Year-Old Invents Life-saving Tool for Use in Hot Cars


— June 23, 2017

Bishop Curry is not your average ten-year-old boy. In fact, I think he’s rather exceptional, which is why he’s the focus of this week’s Feel Good Friday. This young man has invented a device, the Oasis, that can prevent infant and child fatalities caused by being left unattended in  hot cars.

Motivated by the tragic hot car-related death of a neighbor’s six-month-old infant, Bishop set out to put a stop to the problem. In a HuffPost interview, he said, “It kind of came in my head.”

Bishop Curry, inventor of the Oasis; image courtesy of www.huffingtonpost.com.
Bishop Curry, inventor of the Oasis; image courtesy of www.huffingtonpost.com.

The device, aptly named the Oasis, is meant to be mounted on top of car seats. When temperatures rise, the Oasis begins blowing cool air on the infant/child. But it doesn’t stop there. It’s also equipped with an antenna and designed to send an alert to the parents and the authorities. Currently, the Oasis exists only as a 3-D clay model, however, young Mr. Curry’s father, Bishop Curry IV, started a GoFundMe campaign for development of the Oasis back in January.

Bishop said, “I got lots of help from my parents.”

Indeed, he did. Bishop and family were told by their lawyers that it would take a cool $20,000.00 to develop a working prototype, cover manufacturing costs, and patent the life-saving cooling device.

No sweat! The GoFundMe campaign is currently at $29,650.00 as of this writing.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Bishop said he has the full support of his parents, friends, and fellow fifth (soon-to-be sixth) graders. He said, “They want to work for me.”

Not a bad idea, at all. The young inventor has lofty goals for his future, one of which is to develop a time machine. Even if that invention doesn’t come to pass (and I’m not saying it won’t, mind you), the Oasis alone promises to make Bishop a very successful inventor/business owner.

Infant/child deaths caused by being left unattended in hot cars have been on the rise, sadly. It’s become such a problem, that a new bill, the HOT CARS Act, was recently introduced in Washington, D.C. If passed, the bill would mandate that automakers install life-saving technology in all new vehicles.

It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if this McKinney, Texas inventor’s device becomes one of those technologies.

Certainly, Bishop has good supporters and the added benefit of his father working as an engineer for Toyota in Plano, Texas.

Additionally, Bishop recently introduced Oasis at an auto-safety conference held in Michigan.

I wish young Mr. Curry all the best in what is sure to be a brilliant future. And, I look forward to the day that the Oasis is available for purchase. 

Sources:

This 10-Year-Old Is Creating A Device To Prevent Infants From Dying In Hot Cars
10-Year-Old Boy Invents A Genius Device To Stop Children Dying In Hot Cars After His Neighbor’s Death

Join the conversation!