Summer holidays are almost here. As the hotter weather brings days at the beach, slices of watermelon, and the smell of sunscreen, we need to talk about the dangers of children in hot cars.

Recently, a news story took over social media. A father left his 2-year-old daughter in the car for hours while he browsed the web inside their house. The toddler died as a result. Investigations found it was a regular occurrence. He had intentionally left his children alone in the car many times.

There are also many cases of parents who have forgotten a child in a car. To most people, this sounds inconceivable. Yet, in a world filled with more stress and distraction than ever before, this becomes a risk.

We cannot overstate the dangers of leaving your child in a car. On average, 38 children die each year in the US as a result of being left in a hot vehicle. A hot car can cause heatstroke, dehydration, and brain damage in a child. These can have lifelong effects, even if they are not fatal. 

The largest age group of victims is children under 3 years old, making up 88% of deaths.

HOW FAST CAN A CAR HEAT UP? 

Many cases of hot car fatalities occur in a few hours. However, within 10 minutes, a car can reach 80% of the maximum temperature. This means that even leaving a small child in a vehicle while you “quickly run into the store” can be dangerous.

Researchers from San Francisco State University found that on a 35C day, the inside of a vehicle reached a temperature of 45C in the first 10 minutes. After an hour, the temperature had risen to almost 60C. Even on a cooler day when the temperature outside the vehicle was 21C, after an hour the temperature inside the car reached 45C.

The internal temperature rise can depend on several factors, aside from the outside temperature, such as:

• Whether the vehicle is parked in shade or full sun
• The colour of the vehicle, with darker colour vehicles heating up faster
• The colour and material of the vehicle interiors
• Window tinting

It is also important to note that opening the windows does little to slow down the rapid heating of a vehicle.

TODDLERS AND INFANTS MOST AT RISK 

Young children are most vulnerable to dying in cars and there are several reasons for this.

The heat in a car would be torturously hot and dangerous to a person of any age. Children are particularly at risk as their body temperature rises 3-5 times faster than that of an adult. Children also do not have a fully developed sweat system to help them cool down, therefore, they lose heat at a very slow rate.

Once the body reaches hyperthermia – higher than the normal 37C – a person is at risk of heatstroke. Heatstroke is a life-threatening heat illness. It can cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting, brain dysfunction, fainting, and slurred speech. Prolonged exposure to excessive heat can lead to organ failure, brain damage and permanent damage to the heart.

Consider too that children, especially toddlers and infants are less – or not at all – capable of getting themselves out of a locked car. They are also unable to clearly express their discomfort.

WHY ARE CHILDREN LEFT IN HOT CARS 

An organisation, Kids & Car Safety analysed the data of child hot car deaths in the US from 1990-2023.

According to their analysis, they attribute 15% of hot car deaths to knowingly leaving a child in a car. Due to ignorance or poor choices, a child should never be left alone in a hot car. Even aside from hot temperatures, a car is not a safe place for an unattended child. There are dangers such as releasing the handbrake, opening the windows or doors to strangers, sticking fingers into dangerous places, or being abducted in a hijacking. A car is not a substitute for a daycare, no matter how long or short you intend to leave a child alone in there.

A quarter of deaths in hot cars were the result of a child gaining access to a vehicle on their own. This can happen if a car is unlocked or the car keys are where children can reach them. Often, a child climbs into a vehicle and gets trapped, and adults find them when it is too late. In January 2024, in Limpopo – one of the hottest times of year – 3 young children died after playing alone in a parked, closed-window vehicle. A similar incident happened in Durban in 2016, when two toddlers climbed into a car at a neighbour’s house and became trapped inside. They both died from heatstroke.

Surprisingly, 55% of hot car deaths were due to people unknowingly leaving children in the car. Many of us may ask, “How do you forget your child in the car?”

Yet, there are many tragic stories of seemingly loving parents who did just that.

AUTOPILOT 

Everyone at some point has forgotten something important. It’s usually something small like leaving your keys on a shop counter after taking a call while getting coffee.

Forgotten Baby Syndrome is when a young child is mistakenly left in a hot car. The gut response is that it must be a result of negligence or substances. However, studies suggest many cases are unintended.

At the forefront of the studies into this phenomenon is Dr. David Diamond. He explains that “memory failure is the result of a competition between the brain’s “habit memory” system and its “prospective memory” system – and the habit memory system prevails.”

To explain in more simple terms: when carrying out habitual tasks, a disruption in the task can lead to us missing a step. Due to the repetitive nature, we pay less active attention to the task. In our minds, and often memory too, we have carried out the task in full. This is often referred to as “autopiloting”. This is even more likely to happen when we are stressed, tired or distracted.

In many instances, when parents have accidentally left their children in the car, they are convinced they have already dropped them off at daycare while commuting to work. There is an added risk when children fall asleep or are quiet during the journey.

It is observed that 25% of parents with children under 3 years old have lost awareness of their child in their vehicle at some point during a journey. With everyone more stressed, exhausted, and distracted, there is a much higher chance of this happening.

HOW TO AVOID HOT CAR DEATHS 

• Place important items, such as your bag, in the backseat of your car. Alternatively, place your child’s bag on the passenger seat beside you.
• Always remember to “look before you lock.” This is a life-saving habit to check the backseat of your car every time you lock your vehicle, even when your child is not with you.
• Never leave your child alone in a car. This is regardless of the duration you intend to leave them, if the windows are open, or aircon is on. A child begins to overheat in minutes.
• Never let children play in a car.
• Always lock your car. It will prevent children from climbing in and getting stuck.
• Place your car keys out of reach of children.
• Teach your children to hoot the horn in case they find themselves alone or locked inside a car.

If you see a child alone in a car, never ignore them, especially on a hot day. Try to locate their parents or call emergency services. If they are unresponsive, do whatever is necessary to rescue them from the vehicle.

South African summers (even spring and autumn) can be unbearably hot. The holiday season should be memorable for all the right reasons. Be responsible, keep your kids with you while doing the festive season bustle and take a few seconds longer to check your backseat.

If you are planning to go away this festive season, make sure your car seat is ready for the journey – read our article here.

Happy holidays!