We Say We’d Never Leave Our Kids in a Hot Car—But It Happens.

As a parent of young children, I know just how nonstop life can get. Recently, one of my friends, who is also a mom, reminded me of that when she told me about how one of her busiest days could have led to a dangerous situation.
That day, she was racing between the grocery store, work emails and daycare drop off and pick up, all while her toddler slept peacefully in her car seat. Pulling into the driveway between errands, she got out of her car and headed inside, thinking about the dry cleaning that needed to be dropped off and packages she needed to grab to bring to the post office. Looking across the kitchen, she noticed her daughter’s sippy cup from this morning, still sitting on the highchair.
Remembering her daughter still in the car, my friend gasped and ran back outside to find her daughter still asleep in the car seat. She threw open the door and unbuckled her daughter, her heart racing and a sob catching in her throat. As she unbuckled her daughter, her heart raced and she thought to herself, “How could I do that? How could I forget her?” It’s something that I’ddiscussed with her about these cases. We are all at risk, because we are all human.
Parents say a lot of things will never happen, like letting your kids have dessert for breakfast or letting them play tablet games for hours on end. But life’s imperfect moments have a way of sneaking up on us. On that day, my friend lost awareness of her daughter as she dashed inside to continue her tasks for the day. Sadly, everyday distractions like this one could have changed her life forever in a matter of minutes.
As a Highway Safety Specialist at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), I know the risks of leaving kids alone in a car, even for a short amount of time. Parked cars can get dangerously hot quicker than we think, and a child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s. Even on a relatively cool day, a child left in a parked car can be at risk of heatstroke. Remembering these facts that I’ve drilled into her throughout our friendship, my friend hugged her sleepy daughter extra tightly and carried her inside, mind racing about what could have happened if she had not realized in time.
No parent thinks that they would leave their child in a hot car. Looking at the comment section of any news story about a child dying in a hot car, people write things like, “This only happens to bad parents,” or “That would never happen to MY family,” but unfortunately it does — to an average of 37 families per year. One of the biggest risk factors of heatstroke is a change in routine. When your schedule is different for some reason, say for a medical appointment, your brain reverts to its usual patterns.
Heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash vehicle-related deaths among kids under 14 years old. It can happen within a matter of minutes, even at temperatures as low as 60 degrees. And rolling down the windows or parking in the shade does little to change the temperature inside the car, so it’s important that parents create habits that keep kids safe.