Avoid Tragedy With These Important Hot Car Death Prevention Tips!

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As the weather heats up over the summer, we start to hear stories about children dying in hot cars. 

As the weather heats up over the summer, we start to hear stories about children dying in hot cars. These crop up year on year, almost always with a similar story: a parent forgets about a child in the car or deems it fine to leave them there, only to return to a damaged little body which has simply taken in too much heat to survive.

The awful thing about these tragedies is that they are all completely preventable. Here are some tips to keep your children safe in the hot weather when driving.

Never leave them behind.

If you are driving around with your child in the car, especially when in a car seat, you should never leave them inside the car on their own, even if you think you are going away for just a few moments. It is easy enough to bring the child out of the car with you. Even if you feel that it would be a delay to your routine, consider what is most important: getting around the store quickly, or your child’s life?

It is already considered a bad idea to leave your child alone in the car when the weather is fine, so doing so in hot weather is just unacceptable. If for some reason it is not possible to take your child into the building with you when you leave the car, you should bring along another responsible adult passenger who can wait behind with them. They should also retain the car keys so that they can open windows, turn on air conditioning, or leave the car if necessary to keep the child or children cool.

Always double check.

In the heat, when you are already feeling hazy yourself, it’s easy to be forgetful. But that’s no excuse when your child’s life could be on the line. Consider that when you leave the car, you should make a quick check for anything that could be affected by the heat. This doesn’t just include your child, but also any snacks or drinks on the back seat, or gadgets that might be adversely affected. This will get you into the habit of checking the car even when you believe you have collected all of your children, or when you aren’t thinking straight.

Technology could soon help us out with this, with the addition of rear seat alerts in new cars. Until then, make sure you do those checks yourself, with a visual confirmation that all is well. It’s the kind of mistake you never want to make, so don’t be arrogant enough to think that you don’t need to perform these checks. It’s always better safe than sorry.

If you still forget, make a new habit. Put your purse, briefcase, laptop bag, or so on in the backseat. Since you now have to go back there to get it before you go inside, you will be forced to make that check.

Keep keys safe.

When kids get their hands on car keys, or the car is left unlocked, it’s easy for even a toddler to make their way inside the car. They know the routine, and might decide to play a game of “going to the shops”. What happens when they fall asleep and the temperature rises, or they find they cannot open the car from the inside? Tragedy could strike all too quickly without you even being aware that the child is in the car.

These tips are for keeping your own kids safe, but remember others’ kids too. If you are out and about and see a kid in a hot car, consider calling 911. It’s worth making a parent angry at your interference to save a life.

3 Comments

  1. Heather Bartow

    July 28, 2016 at 10:17 pm

    I bet some of the car deaths weren’t accident
    Seems to weird too man y hapoening

  2. Dee Xavier Figueroa

    July 29, 2016 at 12:33 am

    There’s just no excuse. U left with ur kids and then all of a sudden oooh I forgot that I have kids. I call BS BS BS if u need memos and training on how not to forget ur kids in the car that should be reason enough that you shouldn’t have any !

    • Jhamila Rauch

      August 14, 2016 at 11:06 pm

      I js don’t understand how ppl can forget…this crazy!!!

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