Smart Safety: Kids Left in Cars

As the season shifts from summer to fall, changes in routine can leave you forgetful and prone to mistakes. With September being Baby Safety Month, it’s important to think of ways to get ahead of these missteps, as each year, about half of the children under age 14 who die of in-vehicle heatstroke in the U.S. do so as a result of being forgotten in the car.

Safe Kids Worldwide has a wealth of information on the topic.

The Issue

·         Heatstroke, also known as hyperthermia, is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related deaths for children.

·          It occurs when the body isn’t able to cool itself quickly enough and the body temperature rises to dangerous levels.

·         Young children are particularly at risk as their bodies heat up three to five times faster than an adult’s.

·         When a child’s internal temperature gets to 104 degrees, major organs begin to shut down. And when that child’s temperature reaches 107 degrees, the child can die.

·         A car can heat up 19 degrees in 10 minutes. And cracking a window doesn’t help.

·         Symptoms can quickly progress from flushed, dry skin and vomiting to seizures, organ failure and death.

Key Stats

·         Since 1998, more than 660 children across the United States have died from heatstroke when unattended in a vehicle.

o   54% - child forgotten by caregiver

o   29% - child playing in unattended vehicle

o   17% - child intentionally left in vehicle by adult

·         In 2014, 30 children died from heatstroke. In 2015, 24 children died, the lowest total of heatstroke deaths since 1998.

·         Heatstroke deaths have been recorded in 11 months of the year in nearly all 50 states.

·          There are a staggering number of near misses – children who were rescued before a fatality. Palm Beach County reported more than 500 near misses in one year alone.

Top Safety Tips

·         Safe Kids is asking everyone to help protect kids from this preventable tragedy by remembering to ACT.

·         A: Avoid heatstroke-related injury and death by never leaving your child alone in a car, not even for a minute. And make sure to keep your car locked when you’re not in it so kids don’t get in on their own.

·         C: Create reminders by putting something in the back of your car next to your child such as a briefcase, a purse or a cell phone that is needed at your final destination. This is especially important if you’re not following your normal routine.

·         T: Take action. If you see a child alone in a car, call 911. Emergency personnel want you to call. They are trained to respond to these situations. One call could save a life.

Program Partners

·         Safe Kids supports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) heatstroke education campaign and the increased national coordination on the issue.

·         With the support of General Motors, Safe Kids and its network of 400 coalitions across the nation, including police and fire departments, hospitals and doctors, government agencies, childcare centers and businesses, are helping to educate parents and caregivers about the dangers of leaving children alone in a car.

Who Is Affected?

·         These types of tragedies can happen to anyone, and most of the cases are to loving, caring parents.

·         It’s easy to become distracted when you are a new parent and are sleep-deprived or when your routine is disrupted.

·         Data has shown that heatstroke tragedies happen more often when the daily routine is changed.

GMC engineers developed “Rear Seat Reminder,” an industry-first technology intended to help remind the driver to look in the rear seat before exiting the vehicle under certain circumstances. The feature does not actually detect objects or people in the rear seat. It monitors rear door usage for up to ten minutes before or during a trip, and upon turning the vehicle off, the vehicle sounds five chimes and displays a warning on the driver information center screen, prompting a second look in the back seat.  The intent of this feature, which will be standard in the all-new 2018 GMC Terrain, is to take a step toward helpful reminders around cargo in the rear seat. Drivers must always be attentive and check the rear seat before exiting the vehicle.