Heat Stroke
On average, 38 children die in hot cars each year from heat-related deaths after being trapped inside motor vehicles. Even the best of parents or caregivers can overlook a sleeping baby in a car; and the end result can be injury or even death.
Child Tragedies
Far too many children have been inadvertently forgotten in hot vehicles or have gotten into a vehicle on their own. Vehicular heat stroke tragedies change the lives of parents, families, and communities forever. These stories are about children whose lives were lost after becoming trapped inside of a hot vehicle.
Close Calls
Below are stories of just a few children who survived being trapped in a hot vehicle.
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Fact Sheet
Below is a summary of the information KidsAndCars.org has been gathering for over a decade.
• Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2013 as of 5/21/13: 4
• Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2012: 32
• Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2011 : 33
• Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2010: 49
• Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2009: 33
• Child vehicular heat stroke deaths to date (as of 5/21/13), at least: 650
• Average number of child vehicular heat stroke deaths per year since 1998: 38 (one every 9 days)
• The highest number of fatalities for a one-year time period took place in 2010: 49
Charts, Statistics, Graphics
KidsAndCars.org makes available charts and graphs to be downloaded for free and are excellent education materials. We encourage you to share, print, copy, distribute, or enlarge them; but we ask that no changes be made. Simply click on an image below to open a full PDF file of the chart.
Safety Tips
Learn simple tips on how to keep your children safe in and around vehicles.
Click here for our Safety Tips
Pubilc Service Announcements
Heighten awareness about the dangers children face in and around motor vehicles with KidsAndCars.org’s Public Service Announcements. Please encourage TV stations, hospital, doctor offices, public health offices, parenting classes, etc., to share this life-saving information.
News
Safety cards urge parents to "Look Before You Lock"
August 22, 2012
22 children have died after being left in hot cars so far this year, according to child safety group Kidsandcars.org. "It's happened to people that wouldn't have imagined that they'd do it and very well educated people," Waff said.
Read MoreSafety Push After 8 Kids Die In Hot, Parked Cars
August 17, 2012
They were snapped into car seats and carted away to places with the people who loved them most. Then, the unthinkable happened. All of them died when they were accidentally left behind in a hot, parked car.
Read MoreChild Safety Advocates Warn Any Parent Can Make a Deadly Summertime Mistake
August 10, 2012
It can happen to even the most loving, responsible caregivers...
Read MoreHeat is lethal threat for children in vehicles
August 10, 2012
Misremembering a child alone in a hot vehicle can and does happen to loving, caring and responsible caregivers.
Read MoreA family's ordinary morning turns tragic with baby's heat death
August 09, 2012
People who know Stephanie and Aaron Gray say the couple put their four children at the center of their lives. Now family, friends and Donelson neighbors are reeling from the death of 5-month-old Joel Gray, left unattended for five hours in the family minivan
Read MoreFather Aims to Educate After Daughter is Left in Hot Car
August 09, 2012
Sarah Corinne Marson was inadvertently left behind in a vehicle and suffered severe brain damage from the heat, but this strong little girl survived. Now, the Marson family is working to help raise awarness and educate others…
Read MoreForgetting a child in a hot back seat can prove deadly
August 09, 2012
"A father wants others to learn from his experience. It doesn't take a 100-degree day to make it dangerous for children inside the car."
Read MoreDad Hopes to Educate People about Leaving Kids in Hot Cars
August 08, 2012
When you look at Sara Corinne Marson, with her bright blue eyes, thick braid and big smile - you'd never know what she survived.
Read MoreChild Left In Hot Car: Manteca Family Uses Tragedy To Educate Families
August 08, 2012
Parents in Manteca are still in agony after they accidentally left their daughter in their hot car, and they want their story to be a warning to others. The daughter survived, but now all their lives have changed forever.
Read MoreSeven children in 4 states die after being left in hot cars
August 07, 2012
The five-day period from August 2 - 6 brought tragedy to families in Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida and New Mexico as 7 children died of heat stroke after being left in hot vehicles.
Read MoreTechnology
Consumers can also find products at local ‘after market’ dealers and on the Internet. KidsAndCars.org assumes no liability or responsibility for use of such devices. Drivers should be aware that technology does not replace proper supervision of children. Children should NEVER be left alone in or around a motor vehicle.
Cars-N-Kids - Car Seat Monitor
Baby Alert International - Proactive products for your child's safety
Suddenly Safe 'N' Secure Systems, Inc.
Associated Press - Devices exist to keep kids from dying in cars, but few are sold
Studies
Below are studies specific to vehicular heat stroke injuries and deaths. There have been several studies published about vehicular heat stroke but there is still much to be learned.
Crime and Parenthood: The Uneasy Case for Prosecuting Negligent Parents (2006)
Quantifying the heat-related hazard for children in motor vehicles
Not in Traffic Surveillance-2007 Highlights
Heat-Related Mortality - Arizona, 1993-2002, and United States, 1979-2002
Heat-Related Deaths --- Los Angeles County, California, 1999-2000, and United States, 1979—1998
Heat-Related Illnesses and Deaths – Missouri, 1998, and United States, 1979-1996
Heat-related mortality -- United States
Heat waves and hot environments. Noji EK, ed. The public health consequences of disaster
Heat Related Deaths-Dallas, Wichita and Cooke Counties, Texas, and the United States, 1996