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Vehicles rapidly heat up in warm weather; a dangerous place to leave children alone.
Another summer. Another horrendous death of a child left in a hot car; another fortunate intervention that might have saved a life.
These stories happen too often when the weather heats up. So, it bears repeating that drivers must remain alert when children are in or near cars. And, of course, children should never be left in a car for any reason. Sunlight can quickly turn vehicles into infernos.
Luckily, passersby alerted Washington Township police when they found a child sleeping in a locked car at the Cross Keys Commons Shopping Center on June 13. According to authorities, the girl’s 60-year-old grandfather, who lives in Glassboro, left the napping child in the car around 1 p.m. to go shopping.
Fortunately, the girl was OK. Th outcome was more grim for a 14-month-old Delaware County, Pa., boy whose grandfather forgot to take him to day care and left him strapped in the backseat for 5 1/2 hours during a recent heat wave. The toddler died from hyperthermia four days later on June 14.
These men never intended to cause their grandchildren harm. Yet, it seems some people continue to underestimate the danger of leaving a child strapped in a car alone. So far this year, 10 U.S. children have died of hyperthermia after being left in hot cars. Last year, there were 35 such deaths across the country, according to a survey by a professor at San Francisco State University. In the past decade, there have been at least 364 of these tragedies. More than 50 percent of these deaths occurred when a caregiver forgot about the child, and another 30 percent resulted when an unattended child climbed into a vehicle and couldn’t get out. Three years ago this month, South Jersey mourned the tragic deaths of three young Camden boys who accidently locked themselves in a car trunk.
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