8 SUVs With Rear Occupant Safety Alerts (And Why The Feature Is Important)

According to a National Safety Council (NSC) report, an average of 37 children under the age of 15 die each year from being left alone in a hot vehicle. Of those heatstroke deaths, more than half came after the child was forgotten in the vehicle by a parent or caregiver. To help prevent children or pets from being left alone inside a car, in 2019 the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automakers announced plans to implement rear occupant safety alert systems as a standard feature by 2025. Like the name suggests, a rear occupant safety alert system emits an alarm after a driver turns off the vehicle to remind them to check their back seat before leaving. 

The goal is to help prevent drivers from leaving the vehicle unattended with objects or passengers still in the rear seats. Several automakers already offer rear occupant safety alert technology, with many systems currently offered as standard equipment. We've selected eight SUVs with rear occupant safety alerts to help point you in the right direction and illustrate how this feature has become commonplace. Since many automakers already provide rear occupant safety alerts across a wide spectrum of vehicles, we limited the entries to one SUV model per manufacturer. We also gave priority to SUVs with no more than two recalls and five-star overall safety ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Kia's all-electric EV6 crossover SUV has struggled to find new owners despite being well-equipped, fun, and practical. The EV6 debuted in 2022 and sold a total of 61,092 units between then and 2024. In comparison, Ford sold more than 51,000 Mustang Mach-Es in 2024 alone. But while it's no bestseller, the EV6 is certainly one of the safest models you can buy, especially if you want an SUV with rear occupant safety alerts. Every EV6 trim from the Light to the GT comes standard with Kia's Rear Occupant Alert system, which can be enabled by selecting Settings, then Vehicle, Convenience, and Rear Occupant Alert on the infotainment screen. 

The EV6 boasts a generous list of safety-related features and excellent ratings in the category. In addition to blind spot warning, collision avoidance, and lane keeping assist, there's a safe exit warning system to alert passengers if another car is approaching from behind. The 2025 EV6 earned a five-star overall safety rating from the NHTSA along with five-star frontal and rollover crash ratings.

Mazda's smallest SUV also happens to be one of its safest, at least according to the NHTSA, which awarded it five stars out of five for overall safety. The subcompact CX-30 also earned a maximum five-star safety rating in frontal and side crash testing, as well as four out of five stars in the rollover test. In addition, it was awarded Top Safety Pick+ honors for 2024 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for its ability to protect occupants. Mazda's rear seat alert system uses door opening and closing patterns to determine whether cargo, passengers, or pets have been left in the rear seat, so it may not be as foolproof as other systems.

On top of earning high safety ratings, the Mazda3-based CX-30 is well-regarded for its engaging handling and well-made interior. Base models offer cloth sport seats, push-button start, an 8.8-inch infotainment system, a 7-inch digital instrument panel, dual USB-C ports, and more. Performance-wise, there's a standard 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that generates 191 hp and 186 lb-ft of torque. If that doesn't appeal to you, there's an available 2.5-liter turbocharged engine good for 227 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque (250 hp and 320 lb-ft with 93 octane gas).

Much like its Kia division, Hyundai offers rear occupant safety alert as standard in nearly all of its SUVs. However, the Palisade stands out for its excellent performance in standard safety tests. The NHTSA awarded the 2025 Palisade a perfect five-star rating overall, with five out of five stars for both frontal crash and rollover tests. The 2024 Hyundai Palisade was rated a Top Safety Pick by the IIHS, and the model repeated that honor for 2025.

The three-row Palisade features an impressive list of additional safety systems: forward collision warning with automatic braking, adaptive cruise control, driver-attention monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and vehicle exit warning. To keep those around you safe as well, there are standard pedestrian, cyclist and junction-turning detection systems. That's even before you count other niceties such as a 12.3-inch infotainment display, voice recognition, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and dual-zone automatic climate control.

If there's one SUV that's ideal for both off-roading and city use, it's the Subaru Ascent. The midsize high-rider has the reputation of being one of the best Subaru models for off-roading. It's also well-mannered and relaxed in normal city driving. This makes the Ascent a great choice for those seeking a vehicle that doubles as a city runabout and capable off-roader. Whatever your use case, the Ascent is built to deliver on Subaru's excellent safety standards. 

The NHTSA awarded it a five-star rating overall, including perfect five-star ratings for both front and side impacts. The midsize SUV also earned four out of five stars from the same organization for rollover crash protection. The mechanically similar 2024 Subaru Ascent was an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, with the highest rating of "Good" in all but one test category — it scored the second-best rating of "Acceptable" in the moderate overlap frontal crash test.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee was first introduced in 1992, and the current fifth generation debuted in 2021. Since then, the Grand Cherokee has sold over 200,000 units per year, according to Good Car Bad Car. With desirable features like standard rear seat reminder, it should continue to be a tempting purchase for those who have safety at the top of their wish list. In addition to rear safety alert, the midsize SUV comes with automatic emergency braking, blind spot monitoring, lane keep assist and departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, and pedestrian and cyclist detection. You can also get an optional rear-seat camera to keep an eye on the second and third rows.

The Grand Cherokee is also available with a hands-free highway driving system, rough road cruise control, traffic sign recognition, parallel and perpendicular park assist, and many more driver-assist features. The 2025 Grand Cherokee earned a five-star safety rating from the NHTSA, along with five stars each in frontal and side crash tests. It was also designated a 2024 Top Safety Pick by the IIHS, thanks to its great performance in almost all of that organization's tests.

Although the original version launched in Japan in 1999, the Honda HR-V didn't make it to the U.S. until late in 2015. The second-generation model arrived for the 2016 model year with a 141-hp, 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that achieved up to 31 mpg combined in EPA testing. Since then, the subcompact SUV has grown in popularity, with sales rising from 41,969 units in 2015 to more than 150,000 units in 2024. Currently, the feature-packed Honda HR-V is the smallest and cheapest Honda SUV you can buy, with the 2025 model starting at $25,400. Even so, it is reasonably well-equipped.

Base models not only come standard with a rear occupant safety alert system, but they also offer an array of driver assistance technologies like lane keeping assist, collision avoidance with automatic braking, and adaptive cruise control. The HR-V also comes equipped with automatic climate control, a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Bluetooth connectivity, and three USB ports.

The compact, stylish GV60 is the first luxury electric SUV from Genesis. It is underpinned by the same Electric Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) used by the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 and comes standard with a rear-mounted, 168-kW electric motor making 225 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. The GV60 is also available with an all-wheel drive setup that consists of a 74-kW motor up front, a 160-kW motor in back, and a 77.4-kWh lithium-ion battery pack that together deliver 314 total horsepower and 446 lb-ft of torque. If that still doesn't suffice, you can opt for the Performance model, which replaces the 74-kW motor in front with a 160-kW unit. So equipped, the GV60 generates 430 horsepower and can make the dash from 0-60 mph in just 3.7 seconds.

But the Genesis GV60 offers more than just performance. It has standard advanced rear occupant alert, driver-attention monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, speed limit assist, safe exit assist, as well as pedestrian, cyclist and junction-turning detection. It received five out of five stars overall from the NHTSA, along with four out of five stars for frontal crash protection, and five out of five stars for side impact and rollover crash protection. The IIHS also named the GV60 as a 2024 Top Safety Pick+ for its ability to protect occupants.

Not only is the Nissan Ariya AWD more powerful than the base single-motor Ariya, but it is also adjudged to be a tad safer by the NHTSA. While both models scored five out of five stars overall, the front-wheel drive model received four out of five stars in two of the three NHTSA test categories – frontal crash and rollover protection. As a result, it's been pushed down in the pecking order in favor of its AWD sibling, which earned the maximum five-star ratings for side impacts and rollover crashes and four out of five stars for frontal crash protection.

Along with standard rear occupant alert, there's a 12.3-inch infotainment display, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, voice recognition, a Wi-Fi hotspot, wireless Apple CarPlay, and wired Android Auto capabilities. The Ariya comes standard with a six-speaker stereo system that can be upgraded to a 10-speaker Bose system. You can also get it with wireless smartphone charging capabilities.