Heatstroke
According to Kids and Car Safety, over 1,050 children have died in hot cars nationwide since 1990. Even the best of parents or caregivers can unknowingly leave a sleeping baby in a car; and the end result can be injury or even death.
Scroll down for child stories, fact sheets, safety tips, charts, graphics, PSAs, studies, etc.
Child Hot Car Deaths by Year
(detailed information available upon request)
| 2023 | 8 (view list) |
| 2022 | 36 (view list) |
| 2021 | 23 (view list) |
| 2020 | 26 (view list) |
| 2019 | 53 (view list) |
| 2018 | 54* (view list) |
| *Year with the most fatalities: 2018 (54 deaths) |
Fact Sheet & Safety Tips
Fact Sheet on Hot Cars Arabic [PDF] |
“Look Before You Lock” parent education cards |
Occupant Detection vs. Hot Cars provision passed in the Infrastructure bill
Charts, Statistics, Graphics
Below are Kids and Car Safety’s charts and graphs which can 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. Please note, the PDF files are large and may take some time to open in your browser.
Hot Car Fatalities by Circumstance |
 Airbag vs. Hot Car Fatalities
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 Hot Car Fatalities by State Map |
Child Hot Car Fatalities by Year
MUST READS:
Pulitzer Prize winning article by Gene Weingarten, The Washington Post |
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Child Stories
Far too many children have been inadvertently left in vehicles or have gotten into a vehicle on their own. Vehicular heatstroke tragedies change the lives of parents, families, and communities forever. The stories at the links below are about children whose lives were lost, and near misses, after becoming trapped inside of a hot vehicle.
Tragedies
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Near Misses
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Social Media Posts
Hashtags: #heatstrokekills #lookbeforeyoulock
- An occupant detection system in cars could prevent hot car deaths. #detecttoprotect #heatstrokekills #lookbeforeyoulock
- Technology exists to prevent hot car deaths… what are we waiting for? #detecttoprotect
- 2018 was the deadliest year in history for child hot car deaths. #detecttoprotect #heatstrokekills #lookbeforeyoulock
- Cars can alert us of children in the back seat and save precious little lives. #detecttoprotect #heatstrokekills #lookbeforeyoulock
- See a child or animal alone in a car? Get involved! Call 911 immediately. #heatstrokekills #lookbeforeyoulock
- Be prepared to save a baby in a hot car with a resqme tool… get it today at /resqme-tool/ #heatstrokekills #lookbeforeyoulock
- Always check the back seat for baby! #lookbeforeyoulock #heatstrokekills
- Ask childcare to call you if your baby doesn’t show up as planned! #heatstrokekills #lookbeforeyoulock
- Always keep cars locked & keys out of reach of children. If a child is missing – check in all cars! #heatstrokekills #lookbeforeyoulock
State Laws
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Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and Videos
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.
Technology
Kids and Car Safety believes the solution to these preventable tragedies is a combination of education and technology. Kids and Car Safety would like all vehicles to come equipped with a system that would detect occupants and alert a driver if a child has been left in the vehicle. After more than 1,000 deaths and 15 years of advocating for a federal safety standard to protect children and prevent hot car deaths, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which includes a mandate for action by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) aimed at preventing hot car tragedies. learn more here
Systems available to install during manufacturing or aftermarket that can ‘detect’ the presence of a child:
Vayyar – Next Gen Automotive Sensor
Vayyar’s 3D imaging sensor technology quickly and easily looks into objects or any defined volume (inside of a vehicle) and detects even the slightest anomalies and movements to bring highly sophisticated imaging capabilities to your fingertips. The system can detect the number of passengers, where they are and even if they are an adult vs. a child. Watch video demo
AsahiKASEI – Senseair
Senseair Sunrise Automotive is the new generation NDIR sensor with Optical Solid State technology. Electronics with no moving parts make this sensor robust and resistant to vibrations, which is ideal for automotive applications for active occupant detection. When CO2 rises in a closed car, due to a child or pet inside or entering a parked car, an alarm can be triggered via a smartphone app or the windows lowered (dependent on OEM requirements and integration).
VOXX Automotive’s SOLO
Children have died due to Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke (PVH) since 1998… all of which could have been prevented! VOXX Automotive has partnered with patent holder of the “Save-Our-Loved-Ones” (SOLO) technology with a central focus on ending mortality rates of children inadvertently left in cars where temperatures can soar. SOLO, our integrated module with technology to detect the presence of life within seconds of a driver leaving the vehicle through respiratory activity – By simply breathing!
Freer Logic’s brain sensor technology
Freer Logic’s brain sensor technology quickly determines living entities in a car through passive sensing which emits nothing into the living being. Its neurobiomonitor detects brain activity and can send a cell phone alert to a chain of command to prevent injury or death. www.freerlogic.com
Examples of Aftermarket Products:
CleveryElly
CleverElly is a simple and useful device that reminds the driver to check the back seat before exiting the vehicle. Requires no installation and doubles up as a USB car charger that comes in handy in any car. CleverElly is often praised for being the simplest and quickest aftermarket technology solution to help prevent accidental heatstroke cases from taking place.
Carseat CoPilot Automatic Alert System
CoPilot is the ideal backseat baby reminder that attaches to any infant car seat strap and sends a signal to an alarm key chain fob that attaches to car keys. No Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or smartphone app required! Easily install the seatbelt clip just once below the existing car seat buckle. An integrated alert sensor automatically pairs with each of the (2) alarm key fobs included in this system. When a driver leaves the car without unbuckling the seatbelt clip, in approximately 30-45 seconds the sensor will signal the alarm on his or her key fob. It’s a simple, affordable solution that requires no professional installation and provides parents the ultimate peace of mind to prevent a tragedy.
Payton’s Charm – Venturi, LLC
Venturi, LLC, a Chenega company, is pleased to present Payton’s CHARM, our patented solution designed to help prevent hot car deaths of people and pets. Payton’s CHARM can serve as an independent solution in existing vehicles or can be paired with other technologies and integrated in new vehicles. This technology is mature and has performed extremely well in beta testing by a select group of parents, grandparents, and pet owners. Venturi welcomes automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to integrate this solution in new vehicles and make it available for parents, caregivers, and pet owners. We also look forward to speaking with manufacturers who specialize in building and delivering products for the automotive after-market and other sectors seeking a disruptive technology that can help save lives.
Ride N Remind System
Ride N Remind patented system has been in use since 2009 and operates by monitoring the vehicle’s rear doors. It provides an audio alert if the driver opens the back door prior to driving. Once the driver completes a trip and turns off the vehicle, Ride N Remind sounds a gentle, but distinctive continuous chime. If the chime is not responded to, the car’s horn will sound. The only way to deactivate the alert is by opening the back door and pushing a button conveniently located inside. Once professionally installed, it works automatically. No batteries, key chains or apps are required. One system can be used for any number of children with or without a car seat. It can be used for pets and the infirm as well. Ride N Remind is approved for child care licensing in many states and it is recognized for child care licensing by the Department of Children and Families in the State of Florida.
http://www.ridenremind.com/
https://ridenremind.com/wp-
Disclaimer of Endorsement:
KidsAndCars.org does not endorse or recommend any commercial products, brands or services listed on our website. We encourage visitors to carefully assess whether any product, service or brand will meet the needs of their specific circumstance. The KidsAndCars.org website provides links to other websites only for the convenience of its users. KidsAndCars.org is not responsible for the availability or content of these external sites, nor do they endorse, warrant, or guarantee the products, services, or information described or offered on these external sites. KidsAndCars.org’s name or logo may not be used for product endorsement or advertising. Pre-approval from KidsAndCars.org must be obtained before our organization’s name is used in any way.
Heatstroke Studies
Below are studies specific to vehicular heatstroke injuries and deaths. There have been several studies published about vehicular heatstroke but there is still much to be learned.
- Detection of in-Car-Abandoned Children via Deep Learning – 2022
- Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke: Evaluation of Preventative Technologies; National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence – 4/6/2021
- Pediatric Heatstroke Fatalities Caused by Being Left in Motor Vehicles – 2020
- When a child dies of heatstroke after a parent or caretaker unknowingly leaves the child in a car: How does it happen and is it a crime? – 2019
- Evaluating the impact of solar radiation on pediatric heat balance within enclosed, hot vehicles – 5/23/2018
- New Study Released on Nontraffic Injuries and Fatalities in Young Children – 9/27/2017
- Children forgotten in hot cars: a mental models approach for improving public health messaging – 8/9/2017
- Fatal heatstroke in children found in parked cars – 2016
- Functional Assessment of Unattended Child Reminder Systems (DOT HS 812 187) July 2015
- Evaluating infant core temperature response in a hot car using a heat balance model; Forensic Science Medicine and Pathology, October, 2014
- Threat of paediatric hyperthermia in an enclosed vehicle: a year-round study;
- Threat of paediatric hyperthermia in an enclosed vehicle: a year-round study, Injury Prevention, November, 2013
- Evaluating infant core temperature response in a hot car using a heat balance model, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (DOT HS 811 632), July 2012
- Hyperthermia and Children Left in Cars, Journal of Emergency Nursing – 2012
- Hyperthermia deaths among children in parked vehicles: an analysis of 231 fatalities in the United States, 1999–2007 (2010)
- Crime and Parenthood: The Uneasy Case for Prosecuting Negligent Parents (2006)
- Quantifying the heat-related hazard for children in motor vehicles ,Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (2010)
- Not in Traffic Surveillance-2007 Highlights, January 2009, DOT HS 811 085
- Heat Stress From Enclosed Vehicles: Moderate Ambient Temperatures Cause Significant Temperature Rise in Enclosed Vehicles, McLaren, Null, Quinn, Pediatrics 2005; 116;109-112
- Heat-Related Mortality – Arizona, 1993-2002, and United States, 1979-2002
- Heat related deaths to young children in parked cars: an analysis of 171 fatalities in the United States, 1995–2002, Injury Prevention 2005; 11:33-37; doi:10.1136/ip.2003.004044
- Heat-Related Deaths — Los Angeles County, California, 1999-2000, and United States, 1979—1998, MMWR Weekly, July 27, 2001 / 50 (29); 623-626
- Environmental Hyperthermic Infant and Early Childhood Death: circumstances, pathologic changes, and manor of death. Henry F. Kraus MD, Julie M. Nadeau B.A., Richard I. Fukumoto M.D., Brian D. Blackbourne, M.D., and Roger W. Byard, M.D.
- Injuries and Deaths Among Children Left Unattended in or Around Motor Vehicles — United States, July 2000–June 2001
- Heat-Related Illnesses and Deaths – Missouri, 1998, and United States, 1979-1996, MMWR, 1999; 48: 469-473, DC Rackers
- Heat-related mortality — United States. MMWR, June 1998; 47:473-6, CDC.
- Heat waves and hot environments. Noji EK, ed. The public health consequences of disaster. New York, New York, Oxford Univerity Press, 1997: 245-69, Kilbourne EM.
- Heat Related Deaths-Dallas, Wichita and Cooke Counties, Texas, and the United States, 1996, MMWR, June 13, 1997/46(23); 528-531
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