When I was reading The Washington Post this evening, I came
across that dreaded headline: “Baby Boy Dies After Being Left in Car.”
Kids and Cars.org says an average of 38 children die in hot
cars each year after being trapped inside.
What sometimes happens is that an adult who isn’t the one
who usually takes the child to day care gets the assignment, then forgets the
child is in the back seat of the car.
Here are tips from Kids and Cars to avoid a hot day tragedy
in your family:
- Put something you’ll need such as your cell phone, handbag,
employee identification, or brief case on the floor in the back seat.
- Get in the habit of always opening the back door of your
vehicle every time you reach your destination to make sure no child has been
left behind.
- Keep a large stuffed animal in the child’s car seat when it’s
not occupied. When the child is placed in the seat, put the stuffed animal in
the front passenger seat. It’s a visual reminder that anytime the stuffed
animal is up front you know the child is in the back seat in the child safety
seat.
- Make arrangements with your child’s day care center or
babysitter that you’ll always call if your child won’t be there on a day as
scheduled.
- If you see a child alone in a vehicle, get involved. If they’re
hot or seem sick, get them out as quickly as possible. Call 911 immediately.
The child reported on in Friday’s article was an 8-month-old
boy, who was apparently left in his mother’s car while she was at work in
Arlington, Va.
