A Sad Story - Kids Who Are Left In Cars Die! Don't EVER Leave Your Kid
Summer Warning: Don't Leave Children in Cars
May 2002 (Newstream) -- Toting two toddlers while running errands -- strapping them in and out of their car seats -- it's not easy. But mothers we talked to said they'd never leave their kids in a locked car, even for a few minutes.
"If I had to leave them in the car...I would never do that," says Maudy Adura, a mother of two. "I would stay home and don't do whatever I had to do."
William and Michele Puckett would never leave their twin boys in a locked car either. But 3 years ago, the couple's first son Bryan died of hyperthermia when the family's babysitter left him locked in the car on a hot summer day.
"We want caregivers and parents to understand that you can never leave a child alone in a vehicle, not for a few minutes, not at all," says Michele Puckett.
The Pucketts have joined with General Motors and the National Safe Kids Campaign to raise awareness about kids left alone in cars and to educate parents and caregivers.
"Parents should never leave an unlocked vehicle in front of their house," says Heather Paul of the National Safe Kids Campaign. "Unfortunately kids do think of the car as a playground and between videos and toys it is a fun place. But it is a place that should be supervised at all times -- so lock those cars."
Research by General Motors found that, while awareness of the issue has increased -- child fatalities of this kind have not decreased.
"The inside of the car can get heated up depending on the intensity of the sun," says Elizabeth A. Lowery of General Motors. "So, it's very important that people have to be aware that it doesn't have to be an extreme heat condition in order for this to occur."
Safety experts say extreme heat affects infants and children much more quickly than adults. Parents need to be aware that children's bodies are much more fragile than adults and even a matter of minutes in an overheated car can cause severe injury, even death.
