As the temperatures are increasing and summer season has just begun, state officials in Texas are warning parents about the dangers of leaving children in hot cars. Texas leads the nation in the number of children who die in hot vehicles.
Hot Car Fatalities Throughout the County
Every year, dozens of children are left behind in hot vehicles, including family vehicles and daycare vans. They often die of heat stroke or other heat-related conditions. In Florida, a four-month old child died in similar circumstances after being left inside a daycare van for more than four hours.
Hot Car Fatalities in Texas
Between 1990 and 2018, Texas led the nation in the number of children who have died after being left behind in hot motor vehicles. Between this time period, more than 125 children died under these circumstances. Florida was a distant second in the nation with 93 deaths. California experienced 58 such hot-vehicle child fatalities.
In 2018, five children died in Texas after being left behind in a hot vehicle. Three of these children were located in the Houston area. In 2018, a 3-year-old boy died after being left in the back of a locked van from a daycare facility in northwest Houston. The employee van driver had taken the children on a field trip. The boy was not discovered until his father came to the center to pick him up. Staff members then searched for him and found him nearly dead inside the vehicle. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but he died once there. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is still reviewing the case for possible criminal charges. The deceased boy’s family filed a civil lawsuit against the daycare for more than $1 million.
In another 2018 case, a two-year-old girl died after being left behind in the backseat of her family’s vehicle. Officials charged her parents for child abandonment after their stories kept changing.
The first 2018 hot-vehicle child fatality occurred on June 4 when the parents of a nine-month-old infant accidentally left her in their family vehicle after returning from a doctor’s appointment for their other child. Both parents thought the other had taken in the infant. Neither of the parents were charged in the case.
In 2019, at least nine children have already died in Texas after similarly being left behind in hot vehicles.
Tips to Prevent Hot Car Fatalities
These types of accidents can be prevented when parents and other caregivers are careful. Some ways to avoid these catastrophes include the following:
- Check for kids before exiting a vehicle
- Ask the childcare center to promptly call you if your child has not arrived at the scheduled time
- Open the back door every time you park to make sure no children are left behind
- Have clear communication between you and other caregivers about who is getting the child out of the vehicle
Parents whose children were injured due to negligent actions can contact an attorney for help with their claim.
