Heat continues to be deadly
Recent deaths of kids in hot cars prompt pleas to parents
DALLAS — The deaths of four children in hot cars in recent days has brought the number across the U.S. this year to at least 23, nearly matching the total for all of last year and prompting experts to plead for vigilance and warn parents that it can happen to anyone.
“It just breaks your heart,” said Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org, a national child safety nonprofit based in Philadelphia. “We’ve done so much to try to get the word out, and maybe that’s why last year was down a bit, but this year is not looking very good.”
Four-year-old Samaria Motyka died on Friday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania after her caregiver drove to work instead of taking her to day care. In Dallas, 2-year-old Boi Lei Sang died after being left in a hot car in a parking lot Sunday while his family was in church.
Fennell, whose organization tracks such deaths, said the number began dramatically rising in the 1990s with the passing of laws requiring that young children be placed in the back seat to avoid air-bag injuries. “The problem is, when you are out of sight, you can be out of mind,” said Fennell, adding that infant and toddler seats now are rear-facing.
The numbers of heatstroke deaths of kids in cars fluctuated in the following decades, averaging 37 such deaths a year since 1998. Last year, with about two dozen deaths, was an unusually low year. The worst was 2010, with 49, according to both a count by Fennell and Jan Null, a research meteorologist at San Jose State University, who also tracks numbers.