Learn the Facts about Child Heatstroke Deaths in Cars
Child Heatstroke Deaths in Vehicles, United States, 1998 – current¹
Stat
In Just 10 minutes, a car can heat up by 20 degrees and become deadly.²
Nearly 900 children died of heatstroke since 1998.²
A child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s. When a child is left in a hot vehicle, that child’s temperature can rise quickly — and they could die within minutes.²
Heatstroke begins when the core body temperature reaches about 104 degrees.²
A child can die when their body temperature reaches 107 degrees.²
In 2020, 24 children died of vehicular heatstroke.²
In 2018 and 2019, we saw a record number of hot car deaths — 53 children died each year — the most in at least 20 years, according to NoHeatstroke.org.²
More than half of the deaths [“from vehicular heatstroke “] are children under 2 years of age.³
Children dying from heatstroke in cars, either because they were left or became trapped, has increased in recent years.⁴
The majority of hot car deaths — 53% — happen because someone forgets a child in a car.⁴
About 46% of the time when a child was forgotten, the caregiver meant to drop the child off at a daycare or preschool.⁴
Thursdays and Fridays — the end of the workweek — have had the highest deaths.⁴
Nearly 75% of children who are forgotten and die are under 2 years old.⁴
Vehicular heatstroke deaths don’t just happen when a child is forgotten. The second leading cause — 26% — of such deaths are children getting into unattended vehicles.⁴
The temperature inside a car can reach over 115 degrees when the outside temperature is just 70 degrees.⁴
On average, 39 children die in hot cars every year in the U.S.⁷
For more information visit www.KidsandCarSafety.org or contact us at email@KidsAndCars.org. 3On average, 39 children die in hot cars every year in the U.S.2018 & 2019 = worst 2 years in history for child hot car deaths with 54 &53 fatalities respectively.⁷
