As temperatures go up, parents reminded not to leave kids in cars

Last year, more than 49 children died of heat stroke after being left alone in vehicles. A special event at the Museum of Life and Science on Tuesday will remind parents of the danger.

Posted 4:46 p.m. May 28, 2011 — Updated 4:46 p.m. May 28, 2011

Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

Last year, more than 49 children died of heat stroke after being left alone in vehicles. A special event at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham on Tuesday will remind parents of the dangers.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Safe Kids North Carolina staff will bake s'mores inside a car's interior to demonstrate how temperatures can quickly climb to dangerous levels. A large digital thermometer will also be used to simultaneously display the temperatures inside and outside of the parked vehicle. The event's slogan - leaving kids in cars is "s'more dangerous than you think."

Many parents don’t realize that kids can die of hyperthermia if left alone in vehicles when temperatures outside are as low as 70 degrees, says Kelly Ransdell with Safe Kids North Carolina. Read more about the danger of leaving kids in cars by clicking here.

This time of year, I always think of this story Gene Weingarten in The Washington Post from a couple of years ago. It tracks the stories and grief of families where a child was left in a vehicle and died. It's a hard story to read because the stories are so heartbreaking, but I highly recommend it.

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