National Heatstroke Prevention Day reminds us solutions are still needed

With hot car deaths still happening across the country, KidsAndCars.org continues to advocate.

“We’ve really been working on this issue, doing education and awareness for 20 years,” said Amber Rollins with KidsAndCars.org. “Nothing’s changing. What does that tell you? We’ve got to do more.”

July 31 is National Heatstroke Prevention Day. KidsandCars.org is aiming for prevention via legislation.

“We’ve introduced on the House and Senate side what’s called the HOT CARS Act,” said Rollins. “That’s on the federal level. The bill would require a system in vehicles that could detect the presence of a child and save a life and prevent these horrific tragedies from happening.”

According to KidsAndCars.org, over 900 children have died in hot cars in our country since 1990.

“We can all probably relate to getting in our car and driving to work on autopilot,” said Rollins. “You’ve done it a hundred times, so you don’t even have to think about doing it. The problem comes in when you’ve got a change in your normal routine. Unfortunately, that part of our brain that allows us to do autopilot and do these things without thinking about it, is not physically able to account for a change in routine.”

Right now, the best way to be sure you don’t forget a child in the car is to make opening the back door a part of your routine. Put something with the child that you wouldn’t be able to go without in the office and also make a deal with your daycare provider to contact you if your child is expected and doesn’t show up. It could save the child’s life.