Danger Zone: Why Hot Cars Can Be Deadly for Kids

It seems unthinkable, yet the same tragedy keeps happening. In the United States, about 40 children a year die of heatstroke after being left or trapped in a hot car. That’s a heartbreak every 10 days, on average.

A moment of forgetfulness typically causes most hot car deaths — and it can take only minutes for that oversight to become fatal.

We talked to pediatric emergency medicine specialist Purva Grover, MD, and pediatrician Paula Sabella, MD, to learn more about the dangers of hot cars and precautions you can take to protect children.

How hot can it get in cars?

The interior of a vehicle heats up stunningly fast on a sunny day. Temperatures inside a parked car can rise 20 degrees Fahrenheit (11 degrees Celsius) within just 10 minutes, reports the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Your car acts like a greenhouse,” explains Dr. Grover. “The heat is trapped inside, so it doesn’t take long for conditions to get dangerously hot.”

It doesn’t need to be a blistering hot summer day for in-the-car temperatures to hit the danger zone either. The temp inside a closed vehicle can reach 100 F (38 C) even if it’s only 60 F (16 C) outside.

And cracking a window doesn’t help much. Ditto for parking in the shade. “The only thing offered is a false sense of security,” clarifies Dr. Grover. “They’re not going to stop the car from heating up.”

Heatstroke in kids

When it comes to heat-related illness, children are more likely than adults to experience issues when the temperature rises. That’s particularly true when they’re babies or toddlers.

A young child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s, explains Dr. Sabella. That’s partly because kiddos don’t sweat as much, which means they don’t regulate heat as well. More than half of hot car deaths involve children under the age of 2.

“If a child and an adult are in the same situation with hot temperatures, the child will experience problems first,” she says.

Heatstroke is a life-threatening condition when your body temperature exceeds 104 F (40 C). It can lead to an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia), organ failure and brain swelling. Left unchecked, heatstroke can end in death.

That’s why it’s NEVER advisable to leave a child in a closed car even for just a few minutes. “The take-home message here is that there truly is no safe temperature or length of time in which a child should be left in a car alone, period,” emphasizes Dr. Sabella.

Tips to prevent hot car deaths

Statistics show the majority of hot car deaths involve someone forgetting a child is in the car. “A simple change in someone’s regular childcare drop-off routine might be all it takes to make a mistake,” suggests Dr. Grover.

Add in the hectic home and work schedules of many families and … well, there’s an opening for a fatal error.

That’s why experts suggest building precautions into your daily life. These include:

• Positioning your child’s car seat so it’s not directly behind the driver’s seat, which can be a blind spot. Instead, install the car seat on the passenger side of the vehicle where it’s easier to see from behind the steering wheel.
• Placing personal items like a purse, cell phone or employee ID badge in the back seat. When you arrive at your destination, it’ll force you to open a door and look where your child usually sits.
• Keeping a stuffed animal, diaper bag or other visual cue on your front seat when your child is in the car to remind you that they’re riding along.
• Asking your child’s caregiver to give you a call if your child doesn’t show up by a certain time as an extra safeguard.
• Building a regular habit of always looking in the back seat before locking your car.

Remember, too, that the inside of your vehicle can be hot and dangerous in your home’s garage or driveway — so make sure to always lock your car if you’re not using it. A kid playfully “hiding” in a car on a hot day can be dangerous.

“Almost 1,000 kids have lost their lives in hot cars in the past 25 years,” says Dr. Grover. “These tragedies continue to happen. But if we talk about it and educate our families on precautions, maybe we can help prevent them in the future.”