It’s Hot – Don’t Leave Kids or Pets in the Car

As the heat climbes outside into the 80's, it's a good reminder to not leave kids or pets in your vehicle. A decision like that could end up with fatal consequences. The CDC states that the temperture in a car can rise 20 degrees within 10 minutes. So if it's 80 degrees outside the temp inside a car could be at 100 degrees within 10 minutes. That can cause a heat stroke and prove fatal. This video is tough to watch but compelling with the lesson of how quickly the temperature rises inside of a car. Noheatstroke.org reports these statistics of tragedy from leaving children in the car:

• Total number of U.S. heatstroke deaths of children left in cars, 2017: 18
• Total number of U.S. heatstroke deaths of children left in cars, 2016: 39
• Total number of U.S. heatstroke deaths of children left in cars, 1998-present: 718
• Average number of U.S. child heatstroke fatalities per year since 1998: 37

Ways you can prevent this from occurring is:

1. It's easy to become distracted when so busy,  put your phone away until you get from one destination to the next after dropping off your child.
2. Make it a habit to look in the back seat regardless if you transport your child that day or not. Schedules change and so do routines.
3. Use a stuff animal as a reminder, put it in the car seat and when you have a child in the car seat put the stuff animal in the front with you.
4. Put your purse or brief case in the back seat next to your child.
5. Never leave children or pets in the car even if you're running in the store for a few seconds. It's just not worth the convenience it may seem to be.

In related news, Al Franken is looking to present a new bill to help prevent children from being trapped in the back seats of hot cars. Here's what the press release states regarding this bill:

The Helping Overcome Trauma for Children Alone in Rear Seat Act (HOT CARS Act) would seek to save the lives of children before they become trapped in a hot car. The bill would require newly manufactured cars to come equipped with technology to alert drivers if a child is left in the back seat once the car is turned off. Such technology exists and is available in some vehicles-including many of GM's 2017 and 2018 models-but has not yet been implemented on a larger scale.