Preventing hot car deaths

President and Founder of Kids and Car Safety, Janette Fennell shares her tips for keeping all your passengers safe during hot days.

Transcript

00:00 On average, 38 children die in hot cars every year.

00:04 And that's, you know, 38, way too many.

00:07 I don't think people truly understand

00:10 how quickly the temperature rises.

00:12 And in fact, the highest or the greatest increase

00:16 in temperature happens during the first 10 minutes.

00:19 So as soon as you, you know,

00:20 turn off the air conditioning, close and lock the door,

00:23 in the first 10 minutes,

00:25 that temperature is going to spike about 20 degrees.

00:29 And then it just keeps going up from there.

00:31 But those first 10 minutes are very crucial.

00:35 Little children don't have a mature respiratory system,

00:38 so they really can't sweat and dissipate that heat.

00:42 And, you know, put all that together

00:44 and you certainly have a recipe for disaster.

00:47 There tends to be a slight change in routine.

00:52 So, you know, put out the red flags

00:53 if anything's changing in your normal routine.

00:58 But the other thing is we really want people to understand

01:00 that this does, and it can happen to absolutely anyone.

01:04 And, you know, people want to make monsters

01:07 out of the people that this happens to,

01:09 but you need to understand it happens to absolutely anyone.

01:12 The tips we give is called look before you lock.

01:15 So when you arrive at your destination,

01:17 just open the back door of your vehicle,

01:19 even if you don't have children.

01:21 Make sure nothing is left behind in the backseat.

01:24 Takes three seconds, doesn't cost a penny.

01:27 So always look before you walk.