Eight Children Died Last Week From Being Left in Vehicles

Even with temperatures soaring it is still surprising that just last week eight children were left alone to die in hot cars. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it was the worst week recorded for these types of deaths.

Officials are ever vigilant in warning parents about the danger of leaving children unattended in hot vehicles. Children, because of their small size, are way more susceptible to high temperatures. Their bodies heat up three to five times faster than adults.

The NWTSA offers these tips on preventing these types of accidents:

► Never leave a child unattended in a vehicle.

► Do not let your children play in an unattended vehicle. Teach them that a vehicle is not a play area.

► Never leave infants or children in a parked vehicle, even if the windows are partially open.

► Keep a large teddy bear or other stuffed animal in the car seat when it's empty. Move the teddy bear to the front seat when you place the child in the seat as a visual reminder.

► Make a habit of looking in the vehicle - front and back - before locking the door and walking away.

► If you are dropping your child off at childcare, and normally it's your spouse or partner who drops them off, have your spouse or partner call you to make sure the drop went according to plan.

Even with these reminders, as of last week 23 children have died due to hypothermia this year alone compared to 33 children in all of 2011 and 49 deaths in 2010. Statistics like that is why heat stroke is the number one death of children in vehicles after car crashes.

[USA Today]