Recently in Pasco County, some inmates helped rescue an infant locked in the vehicle. The parents of the child accidentally locked her in a car, leaving their keys on the front seat. A Pasco County Sheriff’s Office Inmate supervisor and five low-risk offenders repairing a parking area meridian nearby provided to help. Having a coat hanger and a special, “skill set” the inmates were able to open the doorway and retrieve the kid.
“Thankfully the parents realized immediately the infant was in the vehicle,” says Ellsworth Buck, V . p . of Insurance, Florida's leading independent car insurance agency.
While it appears unfathomable, people leave their children behind in a car several times annually. In 2021, over 50 children died in hot cars according to safety advocacy website, Kidsandcars.org.
The website highlights University of Florida Psychology Professor, David Diamond's focus on why people forget and then leave a child behind in a vehicle. He explains it has to use the complex functions from the brain. He states that the issue is the failure of prospective memory, the procedure through which the brain remembers to behave later on. Professor Diamond says, “The brain memory systems that fail when individuals forget children in cars are the same as those systems that cause us to forget to shut from the headlights whenever we get to a destination.”
Several brain processes are involved with leaving a child in a car. Many factors can disrupt these processes such as stress, interruptions, multitasking, and lack of sleep. Also, Professor Diamond highlights, the possible lack of visual or verbal reminders boost the chance of a child being left in a car.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports heatstroke is one of the leading causes of non-crash-related fatalities among children. When a child remains in a hot car, their temperature can rise quickly.
“Children suffer heatstroke even when they're left in the car for some minutes,” says Ellsworth Buck, Vice President of Insurance, Florida's top independent auto insurance agency.
Children are susceptible to heatstroke. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration listed here are some facts about kids and heatstroke.
Kids aren’t built for heat: A child's body temperatures rises 3-5 times faster than a grownup.
Every minute counts: The temperature of the car can climb 20 degrees in Twenty minutes.
It doesn’t need to be hot: Heatstroke can occur within the shade, with the windows down, as well as at temperatures as low as 57 degrees.
