Car safety advocate asks for all-out effort to prevent hyperthermia deaths[SIZE=-1] In July a 4-year-old died after being left in an SUV in West Palm Beach, Florida on a 90-degree day. His body temperature rose to 108 degrees, according to the Associated Press.* A day later in Dallas, a 19-month-old girl died and police suspect she was also left in a hot car.
Such incidents are sadly in the rise. The number of hyperthermia deaths resulting from kids being left in cars has jumped ten fold, from just 11 in the period from 1990-1992 to 110 in the period from 2004-2006, according to Jannette Fennell, president of Kids and Cars, an advocacy group. There have been 23 such deaths reported so far this year, she says.
Fennell, however, takes heart in the news that in the same time frame deaths from air bag deployment deaths have fallen. Last year, in fact, there were no deaths related to the deployment of airbags, the first time that has happened since 1992, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Fennell attributes this success to a campaign in recent years to have children ride in the back seat. And she is hopeful that, just as with the reduction in air bag deaths, that new technologies, beefed-up regulations, and safety education programs can be developed to reduce the number of deaths from hyperthermia.
?As summer temperatures soar and hyperthermia deaths grow, there is an immediate need to create and implement a public campaign to educate parents, caregivers and others about these horrific incidents and the proven paths to take to avoid them," said Fennell. "Technology needs to be in the forefront of this solution to prevent unnecessary deaths and save innocent lives.?
Fennell says that investing in a few safety advances such as alert signals could help remind parents that they have youngsters on board. ?Vehicle reminder systems currently tell us our keys are still in the ignition, our headlights are on, a door is open, or that we need to buckle up,? says Fennell. ?Sensor-driven technology exists that could alert a stressed and distracted parent who is rushing to work when a child dangerously remains in the rear seat.?
Like the airbag deployment problem, Fennell says solving the rapidly escalating hyperthermia problem will require an all-out effort including education, enforcement and technology improvements and the commitment of industry, government regulators, and safety groups.
At least one good opportunity to help tackle the problem has already been fumbled away, she says.
A provision for a "driver reminder system"* to prevent children from being left alone in a vehicle was originally included in the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act, a landmark piece of child safety legislation passed by Congress earlier this year. Unfortunately, the driver reminder system language was dropped from the legislation before it was passed into law.
More on hyperthermia
Our video (above) details the dangers of leaving children or animals in vehicles and our Cars blog recently wrote about the hazards of hot cars.* The Kids and Cars Web site also offers advice for parents.
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