08/05/2025
Please ! Hot car deaths can happen even when the temperature is mild - like 70 degrees, your car can get to over 100 degrees in an hour. If it's hot - say 90 degrees, your car can get to over 130 degrees in an hour. Rolling down a window doesn't make a difference. Don't leave anyone in a hot car - kids, pets, or adults. It can cause heat exhaustion, heat stroke or death. - This year alone 20 children have died in hot cars and over 1000 children have died since 1990. Kidsandcars.org keeps a record of child fatalities related to vehicles.
This year, 19 children have died from being alone in hot cars. This is the third hot car fatality nationwide in the last week. At Safe Kids Worldwide, we don't want any parent to have to endure the loss of a child. Our hearts break for the families impacted.
It only takes a few minutes for a car to heat up and become deadly to a child inside. More than half of these incidents occur when a child is left unknowingly, often by a loving, responsible parent. With many summer heatwaves across the nation, it's important for parents and caregivers to understand that, although these tragedies can happen to anyone, they are preventable.
By working together to raise awareness and share prevention methods, we can reduce the number of hot car deaths. Never leave a child alone in a car. Remember to A-C-T:
A: Avoid heatstroke-related injury and death by never leaving a child alone in a car, not even for a minute.
C: Create reminders! Keep a stuffed animal or other memento in your child’s car seat when it’s empty and move it to the front seat as a visual reminder when your child is in the back seat. Or place and secure your phone, briefcase or purse in the backseat when traveling with your child.
T: Take Action! If you see a child alone in a car, call 911.
For heatstroke prevention tips, visit: www.safekids.org/heatstroke
