Look Before You Lock: 26 children have died due to auto heatstroke this year

UPDATE:

The number of children who have succumbed to heatstroke as a result of being left in locked cars escalated to 26, when twin sisters died August 4.

According to police, a 24-year-old Georgia father is being charged with manslaughter and reckless conduct after his 15-month old twin daughters children died Thursday after being left in a hot SUV outside their home near Atlanta. The girls' mother was at a hospital in Atlanta at the time, being examined due to having been involved in an automobile accident.

A third Police K-9 has died after being locked in a car Sunday, July 31.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas — The August forecast predicts continued temperatures in the mid-90s with almost a daily chance of rain, driving up the heat index over 100 degrees. The temperature in a closed car can escalate twenty-five degrees in ten minutes if parked in the sun. An outdoor temperature of 100 degrees can reach 140 degrees in 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, 23 children nationwide have died after having been left in closed cars this year, which is twice as high as the number of children who died by this time last year; a dozen children have died in just a little over a month according to the national safety advocacy organization KidsAndCars.org. In 2015, 25 children died as a result of vehicular heat strokes, but 2010 recorded the highest number to date with 49. The annual average (since 1998) is 37, with one being reported every nine days. The total over fifteen years (2000-2015) is 755.*
* Statistics provided by KidsAndCars.org

Animals have also succumbed to overheated vehicles. Just recently fourteen show dogs perished in a van July 23, and also two Police K-9s in the month of June. Malfunctioning air conditioning systems contributed to these three incidents.

“We get so busy, and we just jump out of the car. Or we think, “I’m only going to be gone a second. I’ll be right back,” said Department of Public Safety Sergeant Erik Burse, the Public Safety and Public Information Officer, regarding leaving children and pets in locked cars.

The rising number of these tragic incidents has necessitated the Department of Public Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to launch a nationwide campaign asking motorists to “Look Before They Lock.”

Sergeant Burse emphasized this in this Public Service Announcement

See related link...How long does it take for a car to get hot?