Pandemic helped reduce Ariz. child hot-car deaths
Fewer children died from being left in a hot car in the U.S. in 2020, experts say, as a result of the pandemic keeping many people at home.
The number of children who died from being trapped in hot cars dropped nearly half from 53 in 2019 to 25 in 2020 nationwide, according to Kids and Car Safety, a nonprofit that is dedicated to keeping children and pets safe in vehicles. There were 54 cases in 2018.
The decrease was also evident in Arizona.
The only child hot-car death in Arizona in 2020 was 3-year-old Delilah Jones, who got into her mother’s car in a parking lot by herself on Aug. 30, 2020. In 2019, there were four hot-car cases in Arizona; all were children unknowingly left in a car.
The drastic decrease last year was directly related to the fact that families were sheltering in place at home and working from home, Kids and Car Safety Director Amber Rollins told The Republic in an email.
The majority of cases happen when a
child is unknowingly left in a hot car, and most of the children were supposed to have been dropped off at day care, Rollins said.
From 1990 to 2020, 55% of the cases were situations where a parent did not know the child was left in a hot car, according to the organization’s database as of April 2021.
“With children staying home with their families, we saw very few cases like this last year,” Rollins said.
Among the 25 child hot-car deaths in 2020 nationwide, seven children were unknowingly left in cars.
On the other hand, 31 children were unknowingly left in hot cars among the 53 in 2019, according to Kids and Cars.
The other cases involved unclear circumstances or parents who might have known.
“The number of children who gain access to vehicles on their own and become trapped was about on par with what we see any other year,” Rollins said.
In 2020, nine children died from getting in cars on their own, while there were seven in 2019.
In Arizona, the number of child hot car deaths bounces between zero and four from 1990 to 2020, according to data provided by Kids and Cars.
More than 60% of child-hot car deaths in Arizona were caused by unknowingly left in a car from 1990 to 2020, according to the data.
The last time that Arizona had four deaths before 2019 is in 2008, data shows.
Take extra steps to ensure kids aren’t left in hot cars
The first child hot-car death in 2021 was confirmed Thursday. A 5-year-old child in North Carolina died after being left alone in a hot car last Sunday, according to a statement from Kids and Car Safety.
In Arizona, a mother left her 4-month-old baby in a car for 41⁄2 hours on April 13, and the baby was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to Phoenix police.
“This year is hard to predict,” Rollins said. Since many companies have continued to let people work from home, the organization is hopeful that this will reduce the number of tragedies, Rollins said.
However, the organization is “very concerned” because people changing their normal routines is a major risk fact for children being unknowingly left, Rollins said.
“Now is the time for caregivers to put extra layers of protection in place and be extremely vigilant,” Rollins said.
More than half of all fatal vehicular heatstroke cases involve a parent or caregiver who forgot a child was with them, according to a statement released Thursday by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
“These tragedies are completely preventable,” Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel said in the statement. “Simple steps can help families avoid this devastating event. I encourage all residents to: ACT - Avoid Heatstroke, Create Reminders, Take