With more triple-digit temperatures in the forecast, injury prevention specialists at Children's Health in Dallas are warning parents to be careful and not leave children inside hot cars.
"The sun really isn't a factor in it being so hot in a car," said Jamie Pelletier, injury prevention specialist at Children's Health. "It's definitely going to contribute to making it more hot, but even at nighttime the car can still be dangerously hot."
With the outside temperature at 100 degrees, a thermometer placed inside a car hit 117 degrees in just 10 minutes Monday.
"Children can't regulate their body temperature the same way an adult does," said Pelletier. "So even minutes in a car can be deadly for a child."
She recommends that parents leave something in the back seat to remind them a child is in the car.
"What I always like to tell parents is that you need to leave something in the vehicle that is absolutely necessary for you to have when you exit the vehicle," said Pelletier. "Just something that you cannot leave the car without so that you have to check in the backseat for that item."
A new car seat by Evenflo, sold at Walmart, sounds an alarm if a child is left inside a car after it has been turned off.
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On Monday, a North Texas father was charged with abandoning a child in imminent danger after his 2-year-old daughter died earlier this month after being trapped in a hot car.
Hamuda Raufu, 40, told police he and his family returned home on July 17 and took a nap after a long day at Fair Park, believing all of the children had exited the vehicle. Raufu said after he woke up, he went outside to work on his car when he noticed his daughter, Sekinat Nariyah Raufu, still strapped into her car seat.
She was pronounced deceased a short time later at the hospital.
