The serious threat to children in the car in the summer

Even a few minutes a day can be fatal. Experts point out that in summer the temperature inside car growing very fast.

The high temperature can turn into a tragedy, as every year, small children and pets suffer heat stroke in the car.

The risk of death due to hyperthermia (thermal stroke) is significant when leaving children in cars, emphasizes the research team of KidsandCars.org.

According to research, a child’s body overheats three to five times faster than an adult’s body. In the US there are an average of 39 deaths each year. Cases in Europe are less common, but several deaths have also been reported in Ireland, France and Belgium, with passers-by in many cases taking steps to break the car window to get out. children or pets.

Between 2009 and 2018, according to the animal charity RSPCA, there were 64,443 reported cases of animals being left alone for a while alone in cars in England and Wales. According to the organization, it only takes six minutes for a dog to die in a hot car.

Danger in the car at very high temperatures

Experts advise drivers to look carefully before locking their car so as not to forget a pet inside or in any case not to leave even a small child, in order to do their job more easily, as reported by the Athens Agency News.

This is one of the main reasons why many modern car models have warning systems, which detect the presence of a child or pet in the car when the driver moves away from it.

In order to highlight the dangers of cars in very high temperatures, Ford commissioned an ice sculptor to create an image of a child with ice and one resembling a dog. Then he put them in a car and in a place where he simulated the ambient temperatures. The test took place in Cologne, Germany. Out of the car, the temperature adjusted to 35 ° C. Within 19 minutes, the temperature inside the car had risen to 50 ° C, causing the ice sculptures to begin to melt.

For the purposes of the video, the professional ice sculptor created the model of a 12-month-old baby, with a pacifier holding a toy and that of a full-sized labrador dog, who wears a dog collar and is sitting inside a pet box in the back. part of a Ford Focus Wagon. Installation tests have shown how the greenhouse effect can affect vehicles. Radiation enters through the windows, bounces off the seats and dashboard and heats the vehicle.

The children who died of heatstroke in the cars were either abandoned by their parents or trapped. In 2018 and 2019, there was a negative record of deaths in the US, as 53 children died from heatstroke in cars. In 2020, 24 children lost their lives and in 2021 four more children died.

Most deaths (53%) occur because someone forgets a child in a car. Families who have lost a child have overlooked the fact that even a short period of time can have fatal consequences. Almost 75% of the children who were forgotten were under 2 years old.

Heat stroke is the second leading cause of death in vehicles for children aged 14 and under according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), with 25% of deaths occurring because the child has access to an unattended vehicle and not because a parent he let them in.