The summer heat can be deadly for children in cars, especially in Texas. Since 1998, 92 Texas children have died from heat stroke after being left inside a vehicle.
Five of those happened last year alone.
Recent hot car deaths across the country, including one Monday in Connecticut, have advocates searching for answers to stop the tragic problem that has gone on for decades.
"The death of a child in a hot automobile is a tragedy for that family as well as for the community," said Kate Carr, with safekids.org.
Researchers say it may seem there are more children dying after being left in hot cars this year. The reality, they told USA Today, is there are actually fewer this year than by the same time last year.
Still, it's no less tragic when it does happen, and the persistent problem has child safety advocates scrambling for something new to say to prevent it, because the main cause hasn't changed.
"What we frequently see is the driver, whether it is the mother or the father or another driver, is doing something out of their ordinary routine," Carr said.
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In the meantime, others are weighing in with ideas to help remind us a child's in the back, like 12-year-old Andrew Schuler, of Nashville, Tenn.
He calls his invention the E-Z Baby Saver.
"You loop it over, and as you're getting in, you attach it to the car handle," he said, demonstrating his device.
July and August are the worst months for children dying in hot cars.
"The temperature inside a car can heat up 20 degrees in as little as 10 minutes," Carr said.
And the latest case in Connecticut shows it doesn't just happen in the South.
The most common ways to remind yourself your child is in the back seat is by putting your briefcase, your lunch pail, cellphone, office keys or even the shoe off your left foot into the back seat with them.
