FORT MILL, S.C. — If you think it’s hot outside, it's probably even hotter in your car.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says a car’s temperature can rise 20 degrees in 10 minutes.
Highway safety officials say to never leave a child alone in a car, even if you have windows down and air conditioning on.
What You Need To Know
- According to NHTSA, in just 10 minutes, your car’s temperature can rise 20 degrees
- Highway safety officials say children dying from heatstroke in cars has increased in recent years
- The North Carolina Office of State Fire Marshal says the state ranked sixth in the nation for heatstroke deaths in children under the age of 14
The North Carolina Office of the State Fire Marshal says the state ranks sixth in the nation for heatstroke deaths in children under 14. They say every heatstroke death in a car is preventable.
On Monday, Britax, a company that sits just across the border in South Carolina and manufactures car seats was raising awareness about this topic.
In addition to giving free car seat safety checks, Britax had a thermometer display Monday showing how hot it was outside versus how hot it was inside of a car.
The display showed it was 91.4 degrees outside, but the inside temperature read 156 degrees.
Amanda Renwald, health educator with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, says parents leave kids in cars more than people realize.
According to the NCOSFM, more than 50% of kids who have died from heatstroke in a vehicle were forgotten by a parent or caregiver.
“A lot of times, parents will get in and go to the grocery store or go somewhere like they are going to work and they usually don’t have their child with them,” she said. “Sometimes just simple things like this can just make a caregiver forget they have that child in the back of the vehicle.”
She recommends a few things parents can do to prevent this.
“So we are emphasizing the importance of leaving something in the back seat near your car seat next to your child, whether it be your purse or whether it be your phone,” she said. "Something to have you go back there and grab it and make you realize your child is in the backseat. Because it is very easy to forget. I know parents are very busy, especially if you have a newborn or have multiple children. It’s very easy to forget and it happens to the best of us, it happens to the best parents."
The NHTSA says never leave a child unattended in a car, even if the windows are open, the engine is running and the air conditioning is on.