Hot car deaths rising as heat grips much of the US
So far in 2024, 10 children have died from being accidentally left in hot vehicles, and experts worry that number could rise during upcoming heat waves.
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00:00we bring in Amber Rowlands, the director of kids and car safety. Thanks again for joining us here
00:05and Amber, these heartbreaking deaths keep occurring and the July heat wave is longer
00:10and earlier than many other summers. Do you think that is a contributing factor at all?
00:16You know, absolutely. We see an increase in fatalities and injuries anytime the temperatures
00:20are higher, but what I can tell you is it doesn't have to be 100 degrees. You know,
00:24we've seen deaths even just this year on days where it was in the 60s outside.
00:30So when it's in the 90s, you know, it's pretty bad.
00:34Yeah, we have a map that shows where these deaths have occurred so far for the
00:382024 season. So we'll take a closer look at that and some of the states that are impacted
00:44and it is, except for Florida, a single death across a dozen states and what does that tell you?
00:50Well, we always see a higher concentration in the southern states because it's hot
00:54there. You know, it's hotter there than it is up north and it's hotter longer,
00:58but we, you know, we're just getting started into this really hot weather this summer. We've
01:05got a lot of hot time left this summer and now we're in, let's see, like June, July, August are
01:11probably the most high risk months. So we're right smack dab in the middle of that and we
01:16need to be extra vigilant. Is there something that many of these accidents have in common?
01:21Is it a change in the parents' routine or rushing to get somewhere?
01:25Absolutely. Almost every single case where a child is unknowingly left in the vehicle,
01:31there's a sleep deprived parent who has some type of change in their normal morning routine.
01:36It doesn't have to be anything major. It could be something as small as changing the order that
01:40you drop your children off or a detour in the road, a phone call, you know, anything could
01:46distract you and cause you to shift into what we call autopilot mode. And that part of our
01:53brain that controls autopilot mode, unfortunately is physically unable to account for changes in that
02:01habit memory. So that's how an otherwise loving, responsible parent can drive from home to work,
02:07never realizing they missed daycare drop off. All right. You're the expert. What do you find
02:12works best? And then what do your volunteers stress with parents to be doing during maybe
02:17times that their routines may be a little bit different? Extra caution. Anytime you have
02:23something different in your routine coming out of the holiday week, people's routines have shifted.
02:28So we want to be extra cautious. Grab a large stuffed animal, put that in the back seat.
02:34Anytime you buckle your kids in the back seat, you bring that stuffed animal up to the front.
02:38It's a visual cue that your child is with you. I know this probably sounds crazy to all the
02:42loving parents out there listening, but it's the number one tip that both kids in car safety and
02:49memory experts would recommend is that visual cue that they're with you up front and check the back
02:55seat every time you leave your vehicle. Yeah. And then check it again. Just keep checking on
03:00before, you know, do it extra times if you have to, to get into that routine. Amber Rollins,
03:04director of kids and car safety. Thanks so much again for joining us on AccuWeather Early and all
03:08the important work you do. Thank you so much. Stay safe. Thank you.