According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there are record high numbers of children dying in vehicles of heatstroke. Keep reading to find out how serious the issue is and then contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas if your child has suffered from heatstroke or another injury due to the negligence or recklessness of another person.
The Startling Statistics About Heatstroke in Vehicles
The NHTSA found that in 2018, more than 50 children died due to heatstroke after being left in vehicles or trapped in vehicles. This is more than the numbers from any year in the last 20 years. There have been six deaths in 2019 already – one of which occurred when the temperature did not even reach 70 degrees.
The Most Important Steps to Prevent Heatstroke Deaths
The most important step that can be taken to prevent deaths from heatstroke is to never leave a child alone in a parked car. This is true even if the windows are rolled down. This is true even if the air conditioning is on. It is simply not worth the risk. Children’s body temperatures can rise as much as five times faster than an adults and should never be left alone.
If you are a parent or caregiver of a child, you should get into the habit of always looking in the front of the vehicle and the back of the vehicle before locking the door and walking away. You may think you would never accidentally leave a child in your vehicle but so did everyone else who has ever accidentally left a child in a vehicle.
More About the Dangers of Vehicular Heatstroke
More than half of the heatstroke cases in cars between the years 1998 and 2018 were the result of an adult forgetting a child in a car. In nearly half of the cases, the caregiver was supposed to drop the child off at school or daycare and forgot to do so. The most deaths from this type of accident occur later in the week on Thursdays and Fridays. Another quarter of vehicular heatstroke cases happened when children got stuck in cars that were not being watched.
How to Keep Kids Out of Parked Cars
With so many of the heatstroke deaths caused when children being trapped in vehicles, it is clear that anyone’s vehicle can potentially be the an accident waiting to happen. We recommend you lock your car door and trunk all year long. Do not allow kids to play in or around parked cars. If the vehicle is locked then children cannot get in and get trapped. If a child is alone in a vehicle, make sure they are okay. If they do not seem to be, contact 9-1-1 right away.
If your child was injured as a result of being locked in or stuck in a car, or due to another type of negligence or recklessness by someone else, contact Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for a free legal consultation with a personal injury attorney.
