Safety advocates push for federal changes to prevent the deaths of kids left in hot cars

Laura Geller
·3 min read
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Safety advocates are calling for changes they believe will prevent the deaths of children, after thousands of kids have died or been injured in hot cars.

Laura Beck’s young son died just last year. Her husband took his own life immediately after. On June 26th, 2022, Aaron never dropped off their son at daycare. He left him in what became a hot car.

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Thomas Cestia would often fall asleep while his dad drove him to the babysitter. One morning in 2021, Tyler Cestia says his son never made a sound on the ride, so he never dropped him off. He would find the two-and-a-half-year-old unresponsive in the truck hours later.

“I know there’s a lot kind of a stigmatism and criticism around this, but it can happen to loving parents,” his mom, Pamela said.

Advocates say a lot of people don’t listen to safety messages about this because they believe they’d never forget their child in a vehicle. But the average number of hot car deaths in this country is 38 per year -- that’s one every nine days.

“There are families out there right now with beautiful children who will lose them by the end of the summer,” Janette Fennell, president of Kids and Car Safety, said.

The infrastructure law does address these hot car deaths. It calls for an audio and visual reminder to check the backseat to be put in all new vehicles. The Cestia’s truck had this system, but Pamela said her husband still didn’t realize Thomas was in there.

“I think it’s a little bit of a false sense of security,” Pamela said.

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That’s why advocates say this is not enough. Kids and Car Safety explained technology is available to actually detect a child inside a car, but it is not required to be put in cars. The group is urging federal officials to go beyond the law and mandate not only the reminder, but also the detection technology.

“I think my son would still be here today, sorry, because I think my husband would have been alerted,” Pamela said. “If it could save one life, then I think it would be worth it.”

Already this year, two children have died in hot cars.

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We reached out to the Department of Transportation and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration for a response.

Full statement from DOT spokesperson:

“Over the past 25 years, more than 940 children have died of heatstroke, because they were left or became trapped in a hot car. It’s important for everyone to understand that children are far more vulnerable to heatstroke than adults.  To prevent these heartbreaking tragedies, NHTSA has initiated a rulemaking on this issue (2127-AM49). The new rulemaking initiative would require vehicles have rear-seat systems to alert parents and caregivers if their child is in the rear-seat when the motor is deactivated in order to prevent child heatstroke deaths. The agency will also conduct studies on the potential retrofitting of existing passenger motor vehicles with rear-seat alert systems. Furthermore, NHTSA is continuing to identify and test rear seat occupant detection systems as they become available.

“In addition, starting in Fiscal Year 2024, states will be able to use Section 402 funds for heatstroke prevention activities under the law. Resources provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will improve the agency’s enforcement and regulatory capabilities, and help prevent tragic, avoidable deaths due to heatstroke.

“NHTSA also continues its public service campaign to educate parents and caregivers of the danger that hot vehicles pose to children.”

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