WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The death of a 10-month-old who was left in a hot car in Florida is once again putting a spotlight on the dangers of leaving a child in a vehicle.
A national organization said these deaths can be avoided by simply paying attention and double-checking a vehicle before leaving it.
WPTV spoke with Rebecca Carabello on Thursday, who said she spends her summers with her grandchildren.
"Usually in the summertime, [I spend time with them] the whole summer, Monday through Friday," she said.
Carabello said she keeps them busy by taking them to local museums, parks to pools. Those are activities that Carabello said require her to drive. She said she has a protocol that she goes through before leaving and locking up the car.
"I try to put something in the back to make sure that I look in the back seat to just force myself to look twice," she said.
According to Kids and Car Safety, a national organization, well over 1,000 children have died from heatstroke deaths in vehicles since 1998.
The organization said since 1998 in Florida that 102 children have lost their lives. This year the state is near the top of the list.
"Florida is No. 2 in the country," Amber Rollins, the director of Kid and Car Safety, said.
Rollins said a vehicle heats up quickly in the sun, and a child's body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult's. This creates a recipe for disaster.
"When a child's temperature reaches 104 degrees, they begin to suffer heat stroke and death is imminent at 107 degrees," Rollins said. "If you look at the temperature inside of an enclosed vehicle in Florida at this time of year, the temperature is much higher than that."
Rollins said technology is the answer to this problem. According to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, in 2019 several car manufacturers agreed to install rear seat reminder systems in vehicles by 2025.
Carabello said something has to be done.
"You don't want a child to go through that," she said.
Rollins said 25% of kids that die in a car from heat-related issues climbed into the vehicle on their own. She said 68% of those deaths are boys.
