Categories:
Hot Cars - Latest News
If a child is left in a hot car, the vehicle should alert you, advocates for law say
Jennifer Hilton is a loving mother who would never put a child in danger. Until the day she did. On Oct. 6, 2010, Hilton forgot to drop her son Chris at day care — a job her husband usually did — and instead left the toddler in the car when she went to work in south suburban Crestwood. Luckily, Chris was found before he died of heatstroke. Hilton, who has moved out of state, said she now knows this could happen to anyone. She volunteers to speak on the issue through KidsAndCars.org, a Kansas-based safety advocacy group. "You mix exhaustion with a change of routine and stress and you're waiting for a bomb to explode," said Hilton, 41.
No one is immune
National Child Vehicular Heatstroke Prevention Day activities were held nationwide Monday in hopes of preventing child deaths associated with being left in hot cars. Already this year 30 children have died — two in Arizona over the weekend — after being left in hot cars. “No one thinks this can happen to them and that is why technology along with education is critical to preventing these tragedies,” Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org said.
Hot car deaths reach record numbers in July
As of July 31, the number of children across the United States who have died of heatstroke when left in hot cars was at a record high. This year, 29 children have died of heatstroke after being left in a vehicle. That's more than at this point in previous years, according to Jan Null, a certified consulting meteorologist with the Department of Meteorology & Climate Science at San Jose State University. And 11 of those deaths were reported in the past week alone.
Heat Stroke Death a Risk to Children in Hot Cars
With warm weather, sadly, come tragic cases of children being left in hot cars and dying from heat stroke. On average, 37 children in the U.S. die of heat stroke each year after being left in a hot car, according to KidsAndCars.org. While it may be hard to imagine, many deaths have occurred when overstressed parents forgot that their children were in the backseat.
Child advocates urge back-seat alarms as 2 die in Arizona
A proposed law that would require carmakers to build alarms for back seats is being pushed by child advocates who say it will prevent kids from dying in hot cars. The law also would streamline the criminal process against caregivers who cause the deaths — cases that can be inconsistent but often heavier-handed against mothers. The latest deaths came in Arizona on triple-digit degree days over the weekend, with two baby boys found forgotten in vehicles in separate incidents.
