Even After Summer, Keep Kids Out of Hot Cars
You see it in the headlines every year – a child has died after being left in a hot car. And you think, how could that possibly happen? Who could forget a precious child in the car on a hot day? According to the National Safety Council, 31 children died of vehicular heatstroke in 2025. Since 1998, more than 120 children in Florida have died after being left in a hot car. Only Texas has more child heatstroke deaths in vehicles. Every single one of those deaths could have been prevented.
The inside of a vehicle heats up much faster than you may realize. According to No Heat Stroke, an organization dedicated to preventing heat related deaths in cars, when the outside temperature is 90 degrees, the internal temperature can climb to 133 degrees within an hour. But the danger doesn’t end when temperatures start to drop a little as fall approaches. Even balmy fall temperatures are enough to heat up a car to dangerous levels. In 80 degree weather, the interior can rise to 123 degrees in an hour. When it is a cool and pleasant 70 degrees outside, a car parked in the sun can heat up to 113 degrees.
Heatstroke can begin when core body temperature reaches 104 degrees. Death can occur when it reaches 107 degrees. Because of their smaller size and greater surface-to-mass ratio, children’s bodies can heat up three to five times faster than an adult’s.
It isn’t enough to leave the windows cracked. That little bit of air circulation does almost nothing to counteract the effects of the sun heating up the car. Parking in the shade might make it a little cooler, but dropping the internal temperature from the 130s to the 120s isn’t going to prevent loss of life. Some people think it will be okay if they’re just running inside for a few minutes, but the temperature can go from warm to deadly fast. There is no such thing as a safe amount of time to leave a child in a hot car.
Sometimes relatives or babysitters leave kids in the car deliberately because they don’t realize how dangerous it is. Other times, people actually forget to take their child out of the car. They may be distracted, exhausted, or think that another caregiver has already taken them out. A baby may be quietly sleeping and overlooked while getting other children out of the car.
Always check the back of your vehicle. When you put a child in the back seat, find a way to remind yourself that they are there. Put something in the back seat that you’ll need at your destination.
Some vehicle heatstroke deaths are caused when a child gains access to a vehicle themselves and gets trapped without their parents knowing. Make sure your vehicle is locked, and don’t let children have access to the keys. Teach them that the car is not a place to play. As soon as they are old enough, teach them how to open the back doors, and that they can climb to the front and open the front doors if the back doors have a child safety lock. Make sure they know to blow the horn if they get trapped. If a child is ever missing, check the pool first, then the car.
Pets are also extremely vulnerable to vehicular heatstroke, and more people think that it is safe to leave an animal in a car for a brief period. In reality, thousands of pets die each year from being left in hot cars.
If you see a child or animal left in a hot vehicle, call 911 immediately.
