Babies and pets are at the highest risk of hot car deaths, most of the time it is unknowingly an accident. On average there are 39 children die per year due to being in a hot vehicle. We are going to go over how to prevent hot car deaths and what you can do.
If You See A Child Or A Pet In A Hot Car:
Do not wait longer than a few minutes for the driver to return. If the child or pet is unresponsive or in distress immediately:
- Call 911
- Get the child or pet out of the car
- Spray the child or pet with cool water
If the child or pet is responsive:
- Stay with the child or pet until help arrives
- Have someone search for the driver or ask the store to page them
Warning Signs Of Heatstroke:
- Nausea
- Confusion or strange behavior
- Strong, rapid pulse or slow, weak pulse
- Not sweating
- Red, hot and moist or dry skin
www.kidsincars.org is a resourceful website to check out, it is the only national nonprofit child safety organization devoted to preventing injuries and death to children from vehicle-related accidents.
What Causes Hot Car Deaths:
By learning how to prevent hot car deaths, we are going to share what causes them. The greenhouse effect causes the inside of a vehicle to become hotter than the temperature outside. Even if the windows are cracked, the temperature inside a vehicle can reach 125 degrees within a few minutes.
Children getting access to the vehicle; whether they took the keys or the vehicle was left unlocked. Sometimes the kid cannot get out of the vehicle or falls asleep and gets heatstroke.
Even if it is only 60 degrees outside, inside the vehicle will be hotter.
Because children do not have the protective mechanisms that adults do, they can overheat more quickly.
Cool Inventions That Are Helping To Prevent Hot Car Deaths:
Evenflo, the car seat company has put in this technology called sensor safe. There is a receiver that goes into your vehicle's diagnostics port, then the receiver communicates with the car seat. There is a chest strap that has a smart chip in it, it knows if the baby is strapped into the car seat or not. If the car gets turned off, it chimes to let parents know that the child is strapped into the back.
GM has a rear seat reminder system. It’s not in all of their vehicles, especially older models. It uses back door sensors when you open the rear door, within 10 minutes of the vehicle being started, or while it is running. When you get to your destination, drivers get a reminder on their dashboard that states rear seat reminder letting drivers know to look in the back seat. The downfall is if you stop to get gas and turn the vehicle off. Usually, the driver is the only person that gets out to get gas, therefore this cycles the key, and the vehicle’s rear seat reminder will not go off.
The driver’s little helper sensor system. There is a sensor that goes under the car seat padding where the child sits. Then the sensor gets attached to a battery pack that is synced with an app. It sends drivers notifications to their cell phones. Drivers can set the time frame in which you receive the notification i.e. one minute if you don’t respond to it. The driver's little helper app will send a text message and an email to your emergency contacts. The downfall is that the app will not work if your cell phone isn’t charged.
Hot Cars Act of 2019 H.R. 3593
The bill requires the DOT to issue a final rule requiring all new passenger motor vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less to be equipped with an alert system to detect the presence of an occupant (i.e. child or domestic animal) in a rear designated seating position after the vehicle engine is turned off. DOT must also consider requiring systems that can detect the presence of any occupant unable to independently exit the vehicle and the presence of a child who has entered an unoccupied vehicle independently. The alert must include a distinct auditory and visual alert to notify individuals inside and outside of the vehicle of the presence of an occupant which must be combined with an interior haptic warning (vibrations), and be activated when the vehicle engine is turned off and the presence of an occupant is detected. DOT must enter into an agreement with an independent third party for a study on retrofitting existing passenger motor vehicles with technology to address the problem of occupants left unattended in motor vehicles.
Many automotive manufacturers have started to install rear seat reminders in their newer models, to help prevent hot car deaths. If you are looking to upgrade your current vehicle to one that has a rear seat reminder to help prevent hot car deaths, www.autooutletsusa.com has a wide selection of vehicles to choose from.