Abstract: A system for sensing the presence of a vehicle occupant and taking remedial action so as to prevent overheating of an occupant of the vehicle. The system comprises a presence sensor, a temperature sensor, and a control module. The presence sensor provides information relating to the presence of an occupant in the vehicle and he temperature sensor measures an interior temperature of the vehicle. The control module receives temperature measurements from the temperature sensor, receiving the information from the presence sensor, forms a temperature comparison by comparing the information from the presence sensor with predetermined criteria, forms a determination whether to operate a cooling mechanism of the vehicle so as to reduce the interior temperature, the determination based on the temperature comparison and the information from the presence sensor, and operates the cooling mechanism based on the determination.