Go Ask Mom

Safety experts offer tips to help prevent hot car deaths

Even on days with milder temperatures, the inside of vehicles can reach dangerous temperatures in a short time.

Posted Updated

By
Sarah Lindenfeld Hall, Go Ask Mom editor,
and
Kathy Hanrahan, WRAL lifestyle editor

Even on days with milder temperatures, the inside of vehicles can reach dangerous temperatures in a short time.

On average, every 10 days a child dies from heatstroke in a vehicle, according to the nonprofit organization Safe Kids Worldwide. In more than half of these deaths, the caregiver forgot the child was in the car.
Nearly 900 children have died from heatstroke in a vehicle since 1998, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Don't think that could ever happen to you? Just read this Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post story about a series of parents whose children died when they forgot them in the car.

“Memory is a machine,” said one researcher who was quoted in the Washington Post story, “and it is not flawless. Our conscious mind prioritizes things by importance, but on a cellular level, our memory does not. If you’re capable of forgetting your cellphone, you are potentially capable of forgetting your child.”

During the ongoing pandemic, parents may be even more distracted as they juggle child care and work responsibilities. At the same time, to prevent their children from being exposed to the coronavirus, some may be inclined to leave their child in the car as they run errands, unaware of how quickly a car can heat up to dangerous levels.

"I have absolutely worried about that because parents may think that it is safer to keep them in the car to reduce COVID exposure in places like grocery stores," said Lindsay Bailey, injury prevention coordinator for the trauma program at UNC Health. "But the danger of leaving your child in the car can be fatal and is never a good option."

For pets too, she adds.

Here are a few things to consider about the dangers of cars on hot — and even warm — days, according to Safe Kids Worldwide:
  1. It doesn't have to be an incredibly hot day for kids to suffer from heatstroke in a car. On an 80-degree day, it can take just 20 minutes for the inside of a car to heat up to 109 degrees.
  2. Heatstroke happens when a person's temperature goes above 104 degrees. A child's temperature increases three to five times faster than an adult's.
  3. A child's internal organs start to shut down when their body temperature hits 107 degrees.
  4. It can take just 10 minutes for a car to heat up 19 degrees. Cracking a window won't help.

Check out this video from Safe Kids about the temperature inside a car in Washington, DC, on an 83-degree day.

What's the easiest way to avoid these tragedies? Don't intentionally leave your child in the car even on a warm day. And take steps to ensure you won't forget they're in the backseat too.

"In order to never leave your child alone in the car, you should put something you're guaranteed to remember such as your phone, wallet or purse in the backseat," Bailey said in this video on heatstroke prevention.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers these tips to help prevent hot car deaths:
  • Never leave a child in a vehicle unattended — even if the windows are partially open or the engine is running, and the air conditioning is on.
  • Make it a habit to check your entire vehicle — front and back — before locking the door and walking away. Train yourself to Park, Look, Lock, or always ask yourself, "Where's Baby?"
  • Ask your childcare provider to call if your child doesn’t show up for care as expected.
  • Place a personal item like a purse or briefcase in the back seat, as another reminder to look before you lock. Write a note or place a stuffed animal in the passenger's seat to remind you that a child is in the back seat.
  • Store car keys out of a child's reach and teach children that a vehicle is not a play area.

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