Child passenger safety

Every year, an average of 38 children die from vehicle-related heatstroke – a severe condition caused by failure of the body to regulate its temperature when exposed to excessively high temperatures in its environment. When a child is left behind or trapped inside a vehicle, the temperature inside can rise to dangerous levels, resulting in severe injury or death.

Heatstroke in children can happen quickly, as their bodies are smaller, heat up faster and are  more prone to the effects of extreme temperatures. Hot car deaths can happen in vehicles parked in shaded areas and in temperatures as low as 57 degrees, even with the windows cracked.

One of the biggest risk factors is a change in routine. As parents and caregivers continue to shift their schedules, the risk of someone forgetting and leaving their child in the back seat increases. However, hot car deaths also occur when children enter a parked car, unsupervised and cannot get out, or when a caregiver intentionally leaves a child in a car, for instance, while running errands

• Approximately 43% of children who were unknowingly left were supposed to have been dropped off at child care.
• Roughly 25% of heat stroke deaths occur because the child got in the car without a caregiver knowing and couldn’t get out.
• Nearly 15% of deaths occur because a caregiver intentionally left the child in the car.

Laws

In rare cases, the caregiver responsible for leaving the child in a hot car can face criminal charges, though this is not typical.

Even with the windows cracked, internal car temperatures can reach 125 degrees in minutes

Cracking the windows or parking in the shade does not help slow the heating process OR decrease the maximum temperature.

Heat stroke can take place when the outside temperature is as low as 57 degrees.

Drive to save lives – what we’re doing

Through a unique partnership with Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, CTDOT employs an awareness and education program called, Where’s Baby. The campaign aims to inform caregivers about the dangers of heat stroke while providing helpful tips to protect children.

• Advertising has included television, radio, internet, billboards and bus panels.
• To supplement paid advertising, we garner significant press coverage through frequent press conferences and news releases.
• Public outreach at sporting and concert venues, health and safety fairs and civic organizations reaches the public in person.

Hot car deaths can happen to any little one

This unthinkable tragedy has happened to thousands of parents. And not one of them thought it could ever happen to them. Because when a child is left in a hot car, it’s not a failure of love or responsibility. It’s a failure of memory. It’s hard to imagine, but it happens, almost once every week. The first step to preventing it is believing that it can happen to you.