So far this year, nine children across the U.S. have died after being left or trapped in hot cars—a heartbreaking and recurring tragedy that peaks each spring and summer. In one March incident, a 4-month-old in New Jersey was left in a minivan for two hours. Just this past Sunday, a 4-year-old in Georgia was found dead inside a sweltering vehicle after being reported missing.
On average, nearly 40 children die in hot cars every year, according to Kids and Car Safety, a nonprofit focused on child safety in and around vehicles. Since 1990, over 1,000 children have died from heatstroke inside vehicles. In 2024 alone, 39 such deaths were recorded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
How and Why These Deaths Happen
Data shows that in nearly half of these cases, the child was forgotten by a caregiver—often during a routine trip to work or daycare. These incidents tend to occur at the end of the workweek, typically on Thursdays or Fridays. In other cases, unsupervised children gain access to an unlocked car and become trapped.
“The biggest mistake is thinking, ‘This could never happen to me,’” says Kids and Car Safety. Experts emphasize that even the most loving and attentive parents are vulnerable.
Heatstroke can occur quickly. According to Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center, when the outside temperature is just 70°F, the inside of a car can soar past 100°F in just 30 minutes. A child’s body heats up three to five times faster than an adult’s, making these situations lethal in a matter of minutes.
The Science Behind Forgetting
University of South Florida psychology professor David Diamond, who has studied hot car deaths for two decades, says the issue often comes down to how the brain processes habits.
“Most of these are not cases of neglect,” Diamond told Yahoo News. “They’re cases of the brain’s habit memory taking over. When a parent drives the same route every day without a child, the brain can default to that pattern—forgetting there’s a new task.”
He explains it like this: If you’ve driven home from work 500 times without stopping at daycare, your brain will default to that routine—especially when you’re distracted, stressed, or sleep-deprived.
“This is not a disorder or a failure of love—it’s a brain function,” Diamond said. “But the consequences are devastating.”
Solutions: Laws and Technology Could Save Lives
Amber Rollins, director of Kids and Car Safety, argues that legislation mandating in-car detection systems is essential to preventing these tragedies. When laws were enacted to keep children out of the front seat due to airbag injuries, child deaths from airbags dropped sharply. However, moving children to the back seat has inadvertently led to a rise in hot car deaths.
Between 1990 and 2023, at least 1,126 children died in hot vehicles, compared to 186 from front-seat airbags during the same period.
To help, safety advocates are calling for car manufacturers to install radar-based detection systems that identify when a child is left in a back seat. Unlike basic alert systems or aftermarket sensors, radar can detect micro-movements—like a child breathing—and differentiate between a child and an object.
“The best current solution is radar,” Rollins said. “It knows when a child is alone in a car and alerts the driver. It’s much more accurate than other options.”
The Hot Cars Act, passed by the House in 2021, included a provision requiring the U.S. Department of Transportation to mandate child detection alerts in all new passenger vehicles. That requirement was folded into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law later that year. But the NHTSA has yet to finalize and enforce the rule.
Although the agency says it’s still testing radar technology, Rollins argues there are already reliable, field-tested systems ready to be deployed. Some models from Hyundai, Genesis, Volvo, and Toyota already include this feature.
What Parents Can Do Right Now
Even with no built-in tech, parents and caregivers can take practical steps to prevent hot car deaths. Sanford Health offers the following tips:
- Place a needed item in the back seat (e.g., your phone, shoe, or employee badge) so you must open the back door before walking away.
- Use a visual reminder, such as moving your child’s stuffed animal to the front seat while they’re in the back.
- Ask your child care provider to call if your child doesn’t show up as expected.
- Always lock your car when not in use, and check it before walking away—even if you’re just running an errand.
As Rollins warns, no one is immune to the risks: “The parents this has happened to never thought it could happen to them. That’s what makes this issue so dangerous.”
For more information or resources, visit Kids and Car Safety.
