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Florida ranks second in the state with the most vehicular-related fatalities, second only to Texas. Sixty-nine children have died in Florida this year, this number represents 10% of all U.S. child vehicular heat stroke (otherwise known as hyperthermia) deaths since 1990.
To some it may seem irreconcilable how a parent can leave his or her child in the backseat. However, this happens very frequently, sometimes resulting in injury or death to the child. Parents can become easily distracted or experience a minor change of routine resulting in terrible and irreversible consequences. One reason why children are so susceptible to heat stroke from being left inside a vehicle is that a child’s body cannot adapt to temperature changes as well as an adult’s body. Also, the temperature inside a vehicle can be 20 degrees higher than the temperature outside.
Recently, child safety advocates have been pushing for alarms to sound in cars when a child is left in a back seat. These advocates correlate the child warning alarms to the same alarms that signal a drivers if they leave their keys in their car or their lights on. Florid has changed its law regarding these types of accidents as another way to attempt to prevent these types of injuries or deaths to children. In 2008, Florida law changed to charge every parent with a crime regardless of whether or not the incident was intention. However, the new law did not retract a provision that permits a parent to leave a child inside a vehicle for 15 minutes. If you would like to read more on this topic please see Too many children are dying as a result of being left in vehicles unattended, Florida ranks 2nd.
Hopefully state legislatures will implement new laws or requirements that will lower the rate of vehicular-related heat injury or death in children. In the meantime, it has been suggested that parents leave their briefcase, purse or some other item to act as a reminder to look into the back seat before leaving and locking the vehicle.