New Nationwide Push To Prevent Kids From Dying In Hot Cars
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - On National Heatstroke Prevention Day, officials from the Trump administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration unveiled a new nationwide push to prevent young children from dying in hot vehicles.
The temperature inside a parked car can spike within minutes on a hot summer day. Child advocates say young kids are dying at record-breaking rates despite decades of public action.
To prevent these tragedies, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, along with officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, have launched a new $3 million dollar safety campaign to remind drivers to check their backseat before walking away.
Secretary Chao says public service announcements will be running all summer asking drivers to "park, look, and lock." The NHTSA says radio ads will air across the country and "the digital campaign will target the 18 states with the highest number of child heatstroke fatalities." Those states are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
The majority of hot car deaths happen because the driver leaves the car forgetting a child inside, or a young person manages to get into a vehicle without an adult knowing.
More than 100 children died after being left in hot cars between 2018 and 2019, according to kidsandcars.org. This year at least six have died, and safety advocates say It's lower than usual because families have been staying home during the coronavirus pandemic.
Dozens of families who've lost children sent a letter to Secretary Chao pushing for legislation requiring carmakers install backseat warning systems in new vehicles. Among them, Miles Harrison whose son, Chase, died after he left him in a hot car in 2008. "I opened the door and there was my son," Harrison says. "I think about him every single day." Last year, automakers agreed to voluntarily install the technology in all cars by 2025.
Secretary Chao is also urging members of the public to call 911 if they spot an unresponsive child alone in a vehicle and the parents cannot be located.