No parent thinks, "This can happen to me." But as too many have learned, the hard way, it can. It may be a change in routine or a sleep-deprived and overloaded memory. Even the most conscientious and loving parent can forget a child out of sight in the back of the car, with a potentially fatal outcome. The Kars 4 Kids Safety app is designed to alert drivers when they leave their cars to remember there is a baby in the backseat. So you can drive with peace of mind knowing we’ve got your back.
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Lisa McDonald, a computer scientist, was a responsible adult and a proud mother, just like most parents. She was also exhausted and under stress on the morning she inexplicably forgot to drop her toddler, Kenny, off at his daycare, just like most parents who forget a child in the car. Kenny slept peacefully while Lisa locked the car and walked into her office, leaving him to die a slow, heart wrenching death. The years since have been a living hell for Lisa, left to face the unimaginable tragedy that resulted from an involuntary failing of her working memory.
Awareness of the dangers of forgetting a baby in a hot car is the first step to prevention. Even with your car windows open two inches wide, the temperature inside the car can reach lethal degrees. And it doesn’t even take long: every 10-20 minutes, the internal temperature of the car rises 20 degrees. That means that you only have to forget your baby for under an hour to have fatal consequences.
Approximate number of US heatstroke deaths of children left in cars since 1998.
The temperature the inside of a car can reach within 15 minutes in the summer months.
Percent of heatstroke deaths in cars as a result of someone forgetting a child is in the car.
Temperature at which a child’s internal organs begin to shut down.
During the past decade, parents of every class and every background forgot their babies in their cars. It happened to a dentist, a social worker, a nurse, a pediatrician and a mental health counselor. It happened to a postal clerk, a police officer, an assistant principal and a college professor. It happened to an accountant, a soldier, an electrician, a construction worker and a rocket scientist. It happened to a pizza chef, a rabbinical student and a Protestant clergyman. Don’t think it can’t happen to you. Don’t let it happen to you.