Almost 900. That is the number of children who died in the United States since 1998 in hot cars. All of these deaths were preventable. One good thing about the pandemic was the number of children who died in hot cars was down as people stayed at home. In 2020 there were 24 deaths, compared to 53 in each of 2018 and 2019 — the highest years on record, according to Jan Null at http://NoHeatStroke.org. For those people who travel with their pets in their cars, the number of reported deaths of pets in hot cars is in the hundreds every year.
Historically, just over half of the deaths were caused by a caregiver forgetting the child in the car. Many people cannot imagine how this happens. Families who lost a loved child thought the same thing, until it happened to them. In 2019, statistics show 32 of the 53 children who died were unknowingly left in the car.
Sometimes it is due to miscommunication between caregivers, fatigue, distraction, or a change in routine. In almost half of the cases the caregiver meant to drop the child off at a daycare or preschool. The highest number of deaths occur on Thursdays and Fridays, at the end of the workweek.
About a quarter of the deaths occurred when children got into a vehicle on their own, either into an unlocked car or trunk. During 2020 about half of the deaths were due to children gaining access to a parked car as families were at home more.
20% were knowingly left by a caregiver who thought the child or children would be OK if left in the car.
While the most attention is focused on the times an adult caregiver deliberately leaves a child in a hot car with the intent to cause harm to that child, those cases are extremely rare.
Think these deaths only happen in the summertime?
Think again.
Already in 2021 one child in North Carolina died in April when left in the car for several hours on a relatively cool day with temperatures in the 70s. Temperatures inside the car can reach 89 degrees within five minutes and 113 degrees in an hour when the outside temperature is only 70. When outside temperatures hit 90, it only takes five minutes to reach 100 degrees in the car, and 133 degrees in an hour.
Children’s and pet’s bodies heat up three to five times faster than an adult’s so they are much more susceptible to deadly heatstroke in a short period of time.
What can be done to prevent hot car deaths? A lot.
Campaigns with slogans such as Look Before You Lock and Where’s Baby? are designed to remind caregivers to check the car every time before walking away.
Another suggestion is to leave yourself a gentle reminder by keeping a stuffed animal in your child’s car seat, then moving that item to the front seat when baby is in the back seat. Or place your phone or wallet in the back seat.
Keep communication clear between the caregivers who transport the child. Daycares and preschools can call the caregiver when the child does not show up at the expected time. Alterations in typical routines are often cited by caregivers as a cause when a child has been left in a car.
Although there is an increase in technology in cars to alert a caregiver that a child is still in the car, it is not available on all cars and does not take the place of simply checking the back seat every time.
Hyundai just announced the addition of a Rear Occupant Alert system in many of its cars that honks the horn and sends an alert to the driver’s smartphone if motion is detected in the back seat after the driver leaves the vehicle and locks the doors.
Nissan, GM, and many other manufacturers have their own alerting systems.
While this technology can help, it is not infallible and is often not standard equipment.
Some child passenger safety seats, or car seats, have built in sensors in the chest clip that trigger an alarm if the child’s temperature changes dramatically or have proximity sensors, but again, they are not designed to replace checking the rear seat.
Infants in rear-facing only seats are at a high risk of being left in the car as the adult cannot see them in the car seat without directly looking in the back seat.
Keeping vehicles locked when they are parked can lessen the chance of a child climbing into an unattended vehicle or into a trunk and getting locked inside.
If you have questions about your child’s safety in a car seat, contact a local Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) for information and a free child seat check.
A limited number of free car seats are available through grants funded by the Department of Public Health and our Juvenile Court system.
Missy Braden is the First Steps Coordinator and a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor at Piedmont Newton Hospital.
