Over the Past Twenty Years, Texas Leads the Country in Hot Car Deaths
It's that time of year where I remind to always not leave your kids in a hot car. Even if it's for just a few minutes.
Living in Wichita Falls, we know over the summer those triple-digit temperatures are coming. This also means that a car can heat up quickly without the air conditioning running. I know some people think, oh I'm just running into this store real quick. The kid will be fine if I lock the doors. No, DO NOT DO THIS!
Even with the windows left open, a car can heat up twenty degrees in just ten minutes. With the windows left up, it will heat up even faster. In a matter of a few minutes, those temperatures can be deadly to a small child on a hot day. A website just calculated the vehicle heatstroke deaths throughout the nation. Texas has had 119 heat stroke deaths in vehicles between 1998 and 2018.
These deaths can be prevented. Be sure you don't leave anyone in a vehicle on a summer day. Police can give you a citation for leaving your child in a parked car, even if the vehicle is running with the air on. TxDOT says if you do see a child left unattended in a hot vehicle, to call 911. Then dispatchers will then decide whether or not to give you the discretion to break the window of the vehicle.