MPPD reminds drivers not to leave children, pets in vehicles

Image
  • MPPD reminds drivers not to leave children, pets in vehicles
    MPPD reminds drivers not to leave children, pets in vehicles
Body

The Mount Pleasant Police Department is currently reminding locals of the dangers of leaving children and pets in cars during summer. As temperatures increase, death rates in children and pets do, as well.

According to the National Safety Council, the number of children dying from being left in hot cars is rising. In fact, 2018 was the deadliest year over the past two decades. Here are some other statistics to consider:

53.8% of children are forgotten.

26.3% of children get access to the car without the adult knowing.

18.6% knowingly left a child in the car. .pjg from WP right

24% of deaths occur in company parking lots when adults were at work.

Since 1998, more than 200 children have died from vehicular heatstrokes.

Unfortunately, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA), 75% of hot car deaths in children happen to kids under the age of two, and nearly half of deaths happen when a parent forgot to drop the child off at daycare.

Hot car deaths often stem from heatstrokes — when the body cannot cool itself down fast enough. Deaths can happen when the child’s body reaches 107 degrees Fahrenheit. According to Healthy Children, heatstrokes are the no. 1 cause of non-crash vehicle deaths for children under the age of 15.

Findings from Parents.com show that children’s bodies get hotter faster than adults’ do. It’s important to remember that heatstrokes don’t only happen when it’s scorching outside: They can accord in outdoor temperatures as low as 57 degrees Fahrenheit, Healthy Children reports. And it only takes 10 minutes for a car to become hot enough for a heatstroke — increasing up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Many think that cracking a car window helps, but it actually does very little to reduce the rising body and car temperatures.

“The forecast for Mount Pleasant is the upper 90’s this week. Each year children and pets die from heat exhaustion after being left in a car. Keeping a window cracked open has little effect,” said MPPD. “Don’t leave kids in a car in the parking lot (do we have to say don’t leave the kids in an idling car?) and leave the pets at home! Let’s all safely enjoy the summer.”