Remember, vehicles are ovens in summer
June 2019 was officially the hottest June ever. In the world.
In Northern California, thousands of mussels cooked in their shells — on the beach. Roads buckled in North Dakota. Europe struggled through temperatures in the mid-40s C.
But it doesn’t have to be anywhere near that hot for you to risk many things that are in your car. Even on a non-record-setting day, there are dangerous and costly mistakes you can make by leaving things in your parked vehicles.
You would never leave your child, your pet or your grandma in a parked car in summer. We don’t need to go there in this piece. Don’t leave any living creature for even 10 minutes — just don’t. But what about other things, especially things we haul around with us the rest of the year?
You might be surprised to know there isn’t much that high heat can’t wreck. About the hottest your car can get is 82 C. It doesn’t take long. I locked myself in a hot car to test it. Outside it was a lovely, breezy 26 C, but within an hour, it was 52 C inside that car.
You’ve probably noticed there are times you can’t even touch your steering wheel when your car has been sitting in the summer. Hard plastic dashboards, centre consoles and seats also store heat and radiate it back into the cabin, where it can’t escape.
So here’s what you shouldn’t leave in your car.
Medications and sunscreen: There’s a reason you shouldn’t keep medications over the stove, or in high-humidity places — they can lose effectiveness. Sunscreen can rapidly break down, and won’t be doing the job you think it is. If you have meds you need to have with you, carry them. If that tube of sunscreen has been riding around in your glovebox since last summer, toss it.
Electronics: 32 C is about the hottest environment you want to leave your cellphone or laptop in. Much hotter (or extreme cold) will compromise the processor, the battery and even the hard drive. If you have to leave something behind, wrap it and keep it out of direct sunlight. Same goes for anything with a battery, including cameras and toys.
Food: You wouldn’t leave raw chicken out on your counter for an hour, and your car is even hotter. Take a cooler with you when you grocery shop to stop meat and eggs from going bad and frozen goods from thawing. Vegetables will wilt and refrigerated items will turn. Put frozen items on top to keep everything else colder. You can get coolers that plug in, but if you plan ahead, ice packs are fine.
Candy: This is the worst. Candy melts into gooey sugary piles wherever it’s left. If you have kids, double-check around them. If your survival kit from the winter is still on board, take out the chocolate and eat it.
Makeup: Heat destroys makeup. Anything with wax in it melts, and it’s also a terrible breeding ground for bacteria.
Cans: Mythbusters famously proved that pop cans won’t explode in the heat generated inside a vehicle in summer months. The public promptly responded with, “Yes, they will.” Beverage cans come in many forms, and it’s possible heat will impact them differently. Stow them in the trunk if you have to. Mythbusters also put to rest the warning that lighters will blow up in hot cars — nope.
Wet clothing: Get wet gear from swimming out of your vehicle as soon as you can. Mould starts to grow, and escalating temperatures make it very happy.
Sunglasses: if you leave metal-framed sunglasses in the glove box, check how hot they are before you put them on. Plastic-framed ones can warp. Again, being out of direct sunlight helps.
Wondering about what else to protect? Basically, preheat your oven to 170 degrees, and then decide what would be OK in there for several hours.