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INDIANA – With outside temperatures reaching a sweltering 95 plus degrees this week, the Indiana State Police is reminding motorists, parents, and pet owners of the extreme dangers of leaving precious cargo unattended in a hot car.
Even at moderate outdoor temperatures this time of year (low 70s), a parked car with the windows up can quickly reach 120 degrees or more inside the vehicle.
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As reported by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), over the past 25 years, more than 970 children have died of heatstroke because they were left or became trapped in a hot car.
It’s important for everyone to understand these tragedies can happen to anyone – but are always preventable.
Know the Facts
- A child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s. When a child is left in a vehicle, that child’s temperature can rise quickly — and the situation can quickly become dangerous.
- Heatstroke begins when the core body temperature reaches about 104 degrees.
- A child can die when their body temperature reaches 107 degrees.
- In 2023, 29 children died of heatstroke in vehicles.
- In 2018 and 2019, we saw a record number of hot car deaths — 53 children died each year — the most in at least 25 years, according to NoHeatstroke.org.
Parents and Caregivers can prevent hot car deaths by:
- Never leave a child in a vehicle unattended for any length of time. Rolling windows down or parking in the shade does little to change the vehicle’s interior temperature.
- Make it a habit to check your entire vehicle — especially the back seat — before locking the doors and walking away.
- Ask your childcare provider to call if your child doesn’t show up for care as expected.
- Place a personal item like a purse or briefcase in the back seat as another reminder to look before you lock. Write a note or place a stuffed animal in the passenger’s seat to remind you that a child is in the back seat.
- Store car keys out of a child’s reach and teach children that a vehicle is not a play area.
Act Fast – Save a Life.
If you see a child alone in a locked car, act immediately and call 911. A child in distress due to heat should be removed from the vehicle as quickly as possible and rapidly cooled.