As National Heatstroke Prevention Day draws attention to the tragedy of children forgotten in hot cars, Juan and Marissa Rodriguez are making funeral arrangements for their 1-year-old twins, who died Friday. Juan, the New City, New York, father who’s been charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after he forgot the twins in his car while he worked an eight-hour shift, has been in hiding from media peppering him with questions about how such a thing possibly can happen.
It can. More than 900 babies have been left to die in cars over the past 30 years, a point the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is driving home with Wednesday’s Heatstroke Prevention Day awareness campaign.
The distraught New City father’s explanation for what happened to his infant twins isn’t unfamiliar, nor is it lacking in credibility, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In many cases, the agency said, children dying of vehicular heatstroke have loving, caring and attentive parents.
“Heatstroke isn’t about irresponsible people intentionally leaving children in cars,” the agency said. “Most cases occur when a child is mistakenly left or gets into a vehicle unattended and becomes trapped.”
Related: Friends Fundraising For Family Of Dad Who Forgot Twins In Hot Car
Twenty-four children have died in hot cars so far this year.
During an average year, 39 children die of vehicular heatstroke — or one every nine days, according to Kids and Cars, a national advocacy group that is lobbying Congress to require the automobile industry to adopt new technology to help prevent vehicular heatstroke. 2018 was the deadliest year for hot car deaths, with 52 fatalities.
Kids die in hot cars most often in hot-weather states like Texas, Florida, California, Arizona and Georgia, which, respectively, have recorded 129, 9y, 58, 42 and 37 hot car deaths since 1990. Only two states, Alaska and Vermont, haven’t recorded a single pediatric vehicular heatstroke death between 1990 and 2019.
‘Memory Failures Are Remarkably Powerful’
In many cases, a parent completely loses awareness that the child is in the car, according to David Diamond, professor of psychology, molecular pharmacology and physiology at the University of South Florida who has studied the hot car deaths phenomenon for 15 years.
His research shows parents can forget their kids are in the car as a result of competition among the brain’s memory systems — the “habit memory” system that allows people to rotely perform routine tasks without thinking about them, and the “prospective memory” system used to plan. The habit memory system typically prevails, and the problem is particularly acute among parents experiencing sleep deprivation or stress, according to Diamond.
“Often these stories involve a distracted parent,” Gene Brewer, an Arizona State University associate professor of psychology, said in a press release. “Memory failures are remarkably powerful, and they happen to everyone. There is no difference between gender, class, personality, race or other traits. Functionally, there isn’t much of a difference between forgetting your keys and forgetting your child in the car.”
However, in some cases, “I forgot” is just a ruse. In 2016, Justin Ross Harris of Marietta, Georgia, was convicted of murder in the death his 22-month-old son, Cooper, who was left in a hot car for seven hours in 2014 while Harris went to work. According to testimony at his trial, Harris’ web searches revealed that he longed for a “child-free lifestyle.”
Twenty-one states currently have laws regulating children who are left unattended in vehicles: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
Hot Cars Act Has Broad Support
Bipartisan legislation before Congress — the Hot Cars Act of 2019 — would require that all new cars are equipped with a system that detects and alerts drivers to the presence of a child unknowingly left in a vehicle. Sponsors are Reps. Tim Ryan of Ohio and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, both Democrats, and Republican Rep. Peter King of New York.
Similar legislation in the Senate is sponsored by Sens. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Maria Cantwell of Washington, both Democrats.
Kids and Cars says the proposed legislation has broad support from public health, safety and consumer organizations, law enforcement and first responders, animal protection groups, and others.
“No one thinks a hot car tragedy can happen to them or their family. That is precisely why technology is necessary. The fact that technology exists to save the lives of children, but is not being included in all new vehicles is inconceivable,” Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org, said in a statement. “I am heartbroken knowing that families are holding their precious children right now that will no longer have them by the end of summer.”
Newer vehicles already have chimes and alerts to remind drivers headlights have been left on, keys were left in the ignition and doors are ajar. Adding alerts and chimes to remind drivers of a child in the back set “will save the lives of some of our most vulnerable passengers,” Cathy Chase, the president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said in a statement.
“Unfortunately we have learned that public education alone cannot overcome the serious risk of children being unknowingly left in hot cars,” Chase said. “That is why it is so critical that vehicles be equipped with a detection and alert system so that drivers and caregivers are reminded of the presence of a child in the back seat, as the Hot Cars Act would require.”
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said in a statement that it is carefully reviewing the proposed legislation, but pointed out that fewer than 13 percent of new car buyers have a child who is 6 years old or younger.
“The loss of any life is tragic, and greater awareness and vigilance are absolutely crucial to help save young lives, right now, this week,” the organization said, pointing out that it takes about two decades for technological improvements to reach all passenger vehicles on the roads today. “Greater public awareness saves lives today.”
Cars Become Deadly In Just Minutes
Cars can heat up quickly, even on mild days, and can become deadly in as little as 10 minutes, Jan Null, an adjunct professor and research meteorologist at San Jose State University, told Patch in an email. It’s never OK to leave a child unattended in a car, Null said.
Null’s research shows that on a 70-degree day, the temperature inside can reach 89 degrees within five minutes. Within an hour, it can reach 113 degrees.
It’s even worse on 90-degree days. Within five minutes, the temperature can reach 100 degrees; in an hour, it can reach 133 degrees.
Consumer Reports said its tests show temperatures inside cars can reach dangerous levels of children and pets within an hour. One test showed that when the temperature outside was 61 degrees, the temperature inside reached more than 105 degrees within an hour.
What Parents Can Do To Prevent Tragedy
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers some tips for parents: