Prevent hot car tragedies with simple routine changes recommended by experts

Every year, an average of 37 children die from heatstroke after being left behind or becoming trapped in a car. During the summer, that’s nearly two lives lost each week. Consumer Reports has a crucial warning for parents and caregivers—a message that could help prevent a tragedy.

Since 1998, more than a thousand children have died in hot cars. While May through September are the most common months for these tragic events, Hot car deaths don’t just occur in the summer heat.

Consumer Reports testing found that even when it was 61° F outside, the temperature inside a closed car reached more than 105° F in just 1 hour, an extremely dangerous and potentially fatal level for a child. Children’s bodies can’t efficiently regulate their temperature. Their bodies can heat up three to five times faster than adults.

In most cases, it wasn’t intentional; nearly half of these tragedies happened when a caregiver forgot to drop the child off at daycare or preschool.

Many of these heartbreaking incidents occur on Thursdays and Fridays, at the end of a long workweek, when stress and routine changes can cloud our judgment.

Some car manufacturers have introduced technology that goes beyond just reminding drivers if they leave something behind in the back seat. This advanced technology has the potential to save lives not just by reminding parents to check the back seat, but by actually detecting rear occupants.

While this advancement is not widely available, you can find it in some Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia vehicles, as well as the 2025 Toyota Sienna.

Consumer Reports advises all parents to create a routine with their own reminders every time they drive.

You can create a routine of visiting the back seat on every single trip by placing something of yours, like a purse, jacket, or cell phone, in the back seat even when your child is not with you.

That way, when your child travels with you, your brain always remembers to check the back seat. This is an easy change in your routine that could save a life.

The first death of 2025 occurred in New Jersey in March when the air temperature outside was only 68 degrees. When the police arrived at the scene, they recorded that the temperature inside the car had risen to more than 96 degrees.