Warning: Heat turns cars into ovens, killing ‘29 too many’ last year

As summer began, safety advocates showed residents that the inside of a car can be deadly to people and animals.

Outside Kohl’s and Dick’s in Greenville last week, they outfitted a black SUV with a thermometer connected to a digital readout that displayed its internal temperature. At one point the inside of the vehicle reached 115 degrees, 27 higher than the 88-degree air outside the vehicle.

The annual demonstration by ECU Health’s Injury Prevention Program also melted s’mores on the vehicle’s dash to show parents, pet owners and caregivers the severity of the heat within.

Numbers from NoHeatStroke.org show 971 children have died of heat-related illness in vehicles since 1998, when the statistic began to be tracked. Most of those deaths occur in June, July and August, the data showed.

Ellen Walston, coordinator of the Injury Prevention Program, said that there have been two fatalities in hot vehicles so far this year nationwide, one in South Carolina and the other in West Virginia. Both happened on mild days.

“A child can die on a 70 degree day because cars heat so quickly, sometimes as quickly as 20 degrees in 10 minutes,” Walston said. “Last year we had 29 deaths which, again, was 29 too many. That was a decrease from previous years.”

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey said Thursday that on average 37-38 children die in hot cars per year nationwide from heat stroke.

Causey said the most common cause is that people simply forget to check their back seat.

“Never leave a child or a pet in hot car, even for a few minutes,” Causey said. “You may just go into the store to pick up a few items, run into someone you know and with all that’s going on these days people have so much on their mind they’ll say, ‘Oh I forgot. Where’s my kid?’”

State law prohibits children from being left alone in vehicles. A Greenville police official said that in cases where a child dies charges could include involuntary manslaughter, a felony.

Walston said technology in vehicles now exists to outright tell drivers that someone is in their backseat when the vehicle is off, or their dashboard displays a reminder to check their backseat. Still, she said, the average vehicle on the highway is 12 years old and might not have that technology. That puts the onus to check on caregivers.

“I just would ask that parents be vigilant about setting reminders whether it’s a reminder on your phone, putting something in the backseat, whatever you have to do to check,” Walston said.

Walston added that a cracked window does not improve air flow while a car sits in the heat. In the event that someone sees anyone — young or old — in a hot car they should call 9-1-1 immediately. They should also wait at the car in case of an emergency and, if the occupant appears to be in serious danger, to “do what (they) have to do,” Walston said.

Pets also at risk of heat-related injury or death in a car, Causey said.

“I’ve not seen the number on the pets but it is estimated that the number of pets that die in hot cars far exceeds the number of children and people that die in hot cars,” Causey said.

And the hotter it gets outside, the hotter it gets inside, officials said.

The National Weather Service in Morehead City reported that the average max temperature in June in Greenville so far has been 88 degrees, 4 degrees higher than last June’s average high of 84.

The average temperature for June from 1991-2020 was 87-91 degrees.

Summer continues through Sept. 21.

For more information visit www.NCDOI.gov.