Hot car dangers rising

SALT LAKE CITY — Temperatures will be in the mid-90s all this week along the Wasatch Front, and officials want to remind parents of summer hot car dangers.

The National Safety Council says 42 children died in 2017 from heatstroke after being left in hot cars. The national average is 37. So far this year, 9 kids have died in the US.

They also say only 21 states have laws in place to address the dangers of children left alone in vehicles. And just seven states consider it a felony to deliberately leave a child inside a hot car.

“A young child’s body temperature rises much faster than an adult’s, and a temperature is rising from 90 degrees to 190 degrees in just ten minutes inside the back of that car,” said Salt Lake County public information officer Steve Sautter.

 

Nine families have been devastated by the death of a child left in a hot car so far this year. Do whatever it takes to remember that a precious life is waiting for you in the backseat of your car. Don’t let your son or daughter be number the tenth to die in a hot car this year.

— SLCo Emergency Mngt. (@SLCoEmerMngt) June 6, 2018

Sautter joined Brian and Amanda live. His full interview is below.

“It’s something we work hard to prevent because we don’t want something like this to happen,” said Cambree Applegate, the director of Safe Kids Utah at the Utah Department of Health.

Listen to her interview with Brian and Amanda below.

Some tips from Safe Kids Utah:

1. Never leave your child alone in the car for ANY reason. It only takes 10 minutes for a car interior to rise by 20 degrees.
2. Keep doors locked when not using the car to make sure kids do not climb inside.
3. Leave reminders, like a phone, purse, or shoe in the back seat, or a stuffed animal in the front seat, to help you remember a child is in the car with you.

If you see a child or animal locked inside a hot car, police say the first step is to call 9-1-1. You could face legal ramifications for breaking into cars.

 

 

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