By Sarah Al-Shaikh SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)— Most parents know to check that their child’s car seat is properly secured, but there’s something else parents should be checking that could be the difference between life and death.
Traffic Safety Coordinator, Heather Poland, said parents need to check the temperature of their child’s car seat before strapping them in, because of how hot the car seat could be.
“I think it’s extremely important for them to realize how hot it is in that car and to touch the car seat and make sure that the car seat isn’t going to harm their child when they put them in it,” said Poland.
As temperatures continue to rise, the dangers of children over heating in their car seat becomes a greater concern.
“I think often parents will run back inside or run in somewhere and leave their child in the car not realizing how much hotter it’s going to be in the car when it’s hot outside.”
In the United States, three children died in the past week from being left in a hot car. A child’s core temperature raises 3-5 times faster than an adult, and sitting in a hot car seat could lead to serious health issues.
“It’s going to be 20 degrees hotter in the car than it is outside and then once a child’s core temperature reaches 107 degrees then that…that’s death,” said Poland.
Poland organizes Onondaga County’s Child Car Seat Safety Check that has happened twice this month, and will continue to happen through the rest of the summer.
During these checks, Poland, along with other traffic safety officials, check how secure car seats are, along with other improper installation problems.
In the wake of children dying in hot cars, an act was introduced to the House of Representatives called The HOT CARS Act of 2019. The act requires cars to audibly alert drivers if someone is in the back seat when the engine is turned off.
As Syracuse continues to experience a heat wave, Poland strongly suggests parents think twice before strapping their children into their car seat.
