Beware of dangers of leaving children alone in or around vehicles
As summer arrives in Texas, children will be spending more time outdoors and the danger of children being left alone in and around cars increases. When we think of children left alone in cars, our first thought is the danger of children dying in hot cars due to heatstroke. In addition to heat risks, there are other safety concerns with unsupervised children around cars, including back-overs, the risk of children releasing the gear shift or engaging electric windows, and even becoming trapped inside vehicles or trunks. According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, approximately 39 percent of back-over deaths occurred at home in the driveway, an apartment parking lot, or in a townhome complex. Drivers involved in back-over and front-over deaths are often family members or family friends of the child.
Children are more at risk for heatstroke because a child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s and heatstroke can occur at body temperatures above 104 degrees. Even mild outside temperatures can pose a threat, but with Texas temperatures climbing into the upper 90s each day, the danger becomes even greater. The problem is that temperatures in parked vehicles rise very quickly. According to figures from San Francisco State University’s Department of Geosciences, in just 10 minutes, the temperature inside of a vehicle can increase by almost 20 degrees.
To reduce deaths from heatstroke, Safe Kids USA has launched a campaign titled ACT, which stands for: Avoid heatstroke-related injury, Create reminders, and Take action. The campaign is designed to link together these simple heatstroke prevention steps. It is important that parents and caregivers are on alert to avoid a heatstroke death and that they share the ACT campaign steps with spouses, grandparents, babysitters and other caregivers. Any change in schedule for drop-off or pickup of a child can lead to a deadly mistake. In more than half of the cases of heatstroke, the death was due to the child being “forgotten” by the caregiver. Such deaths are preventable when parents take precautions to make sure that children are not left alone in vehicles and cannot gain access to unlocked vehicles. Although many parents may think that this will never happen to them, it is a tragedy that can and has happened to many families.
To read the full article, subscribe to the Canton Herald or pick up a copy from one of our vendors.
