Hoping to reduce the chances of a driver accidently leaving kids, pets or other personal items in the back seat of a vehicle when they park it, Nissan will offer a new Rear Door Alert system as standard equipment on the 2018 Pathfinder when it goes on sale next month. The automaker’s first-ever application of this potentially life-saving technology also is slated to appear in other Nissan products in the coming years.
Look before you leave
Similar in concept to the Rear Seat Reminder system introduced on the 2017 GMC Acadia, Nissan’s patented RDA setup was created by two engineers who also happen to be moms. The system monitors the rear door switches to track open/close cycles. If it senses a door was cycled at the start of a trip but not at its conclusion when the vehicle is placed in park and the ignition switched off, the RDA delivers an increasingly insistent series of notifications to look before you leave starting with a visual display in the instrument cluster followed by interior chimes.
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Should the driver fail to respond appropriately and just walk away, Nissan’s RDA goes one step beyond its GM counterpart. It then begins delivering “subtle but distinctive” horn chirps that mimic the sonic cues developed for the automaker’s Easy Fill Tire Alert system. The system also can be temporarily or permanently deactivated.
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In addition to the RDA, the 2018 Nissan Pathfinder also adds Automatic Emergency Braking to its roster of safety-related standard items. Other 2018 upgrades include two new colors, six UBS ports and a new Midnight Edition appearance package. Intelligent Cruise Control and NissanConnect with Navigation and Services–formerly standard only on the Platinum trim grade–are now also included on Pathfinder SL models.
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