WACO, Texas (KWTX) - A rising number of children are dying in hot cars not because their parents forgot them, but because they climb in the car on their own.
A new study by the advocacy group Kids and Cars analyzed hot car deaths since 1990. The study found an average of 39 children die every year from being trapped in a hot car. IN the past two years that number has increased to more than 50.
A majority of hot car deaths happen when a parent forgets a child in the backseat- often thinking the child has been dropped off at school or daycare.
26 percent of hot car deaths, however, are a result of a child climbing into the car on their own.
Advocates say this type of hot car death has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With children at home more hours of the day and more days of the week we’re definitely seeing an increased rate of children getting into vehicles on their own, and a decreased rate of children being unknowingly left because people aren’t going out and about what their kids,” said Amber Rollins, director of Kids and Cars.
Jenny Stanley lost her 6-year-old daughter Sydney in 2010. Stanley said Sydney went over to a neighbor’s house to play but the neighbor was not home. On her way back home Sydney climbed into her family’s car and was trapped. With the family believing Sydney was playing at the neighbor’s house, she wasn’t found until hours later.
“I blame myself so much,” Stanley said. “Because a parent wants her, protect her child at all cost. And I couldn’t protect her. I just try to remember that there was really nothing I could do. It was her will. "
Stanley now works with advocacy groups to help parents prevent a similar tragedy in their homes.
Advocates say parents should have a designated place for their keys where children can’t reach. They also say parents and neighbors who live around children must be diligent about locking their car doors. They also advice that parents teach their children how to honk the car horn or turn on the emergency lights if they do get trapped.
Kids and Cars is urging Congress to pass legislation that would require auto manufacturers to place technology in new vehicles that can detect the presence of a human or animal.
Copyright 2020 KWTX. All rights reserved.
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August 16, 2020 at 08:40AM
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Advocates warn of rising hot car death trend during pandemic - KWTX
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