MURRAY, Utah (ABC4 Utah) – As the weather warms, safety experts at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital are reminding drivers to never leave a child in a vehicle – even for a minute – to prevent injury or even death from overheating. “Even in spring, the inside of your vehicle can heat up very quickly. An outside temperature in the mid-60’s can cause the temperature inside a car to rise above 110 degrees Fahrenheit,” said Michelle Jamison, community health program manager at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital.
“In just 10 minutes, a car can heat up by 20 degrees and become deadly.” Every year, nearly 40 children across the country die after being left in a hot vehicle. In Utah, 13 children have died in hot vehicles between 1998 and 2022, and others have suffered injuries in close calls.
Hot car tragedies can happen to anyone. They can occur when a caretaker forgets a child is in the car. This can be due to fatigue or change of routine – common for families during summer break and vacations – that push a person’s brain into autopilot, making it easier to forget.
Additionally, nearly 3 in 10 heatstroke deaths happen when an unattended child gains access to a vehicle. A child’s body temperature can increase 3-5 times faster than an adult’s. Cracking a window has very little effect on the temperature inside the car.
Here are some tips from the experts at Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital to prevent hot-car injuries: • Make it .
