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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.
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:
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.
