Nissan Rear Door Alert Safety System Explained

October 29 2020,

Nissan Rear Door Alert Safety System Explained

Nissan continues to support a culture of innovation that develops great ideas and turns them into leading features across the Nissan lineup. One of these successes is the Rear Door Alert feature, an idea that was proposed and developed by Nissan engineers--and mothers. 


A few years ago, Elsa Foley (industrial engineer) and Marlene Mendoza (mechanical engineer) teamed up to work on new technology that reminds drivers to ensure rear seats are inspected and properly cleared before drivers leave the vehicle's area. 


There are many reasons why it's important to quickly inspect rear seating before leaving the car. 

During the extreme temperatures of the summer and winter, children and pets can be in lethal danger almost immediately if left alone. Perishable foods will quickly spoil in warm weather and can leave an unwanted scent for days after cleaning up. Plants and other flora can die quickly. Or you could just forget an important bag before a long walk through the parking lot and into work.


The Rear Door Alert (RDA) combines door sequence logic, a message display and delayed horn sounds to remind the driver to check the rear seat(s) when leaving the vehicle. Overall, the goal of the system to divert the driver's attention back to the vehicle and perform a check. 


How the system works


The RDA is not designed to sound off after each trip, but only under certain parameters. This helps the driver to avoid becoming desensitzed to the system's visual and audible queues. It essentially activates if rear doors were used before a trip, but not after.


The system first senses if the rear door switches are in an open/closed position before and after each trip. If a door is opened/closed before a trip begins, and that door was not opened again after the trip, the notification cycle begins. 


The engineers of the RDA system also understand that some drivers may not transport important items in their rear seats, so the system is configurable to shut off temporarily or even permanently using prompts in the cluster display. 


Rear Door Alert is just one of many safety features available with every Nissan model, and it's just another reason why you can drive a Nissan with confidence. 


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