Safety In and Around Cars

About 10 percent of motor vehicle-related deaths of children don’t happen in traffic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They happen when children are struck by cars in parking lots or driveways or when they are left unattended in vehicles.

Three Safe Kids Buckle Up programs—Spot the Tot, Never Leave Your Child Alone and Preventing Trunk Entrapment—teach that vehicles are not toys and children of any age should never be alone in or around them.

Spot the Tot

Danger can come from any direction, and parents must be aware of the risk of "backover" or "frontover" incidents. Many of these preventable injuries and deaths occur in driveways or parking lots when drivers are unaware children are near vehicles. Tragically, these drivers are often family members or friends of the injured child.

Parents, caregivers, drivers and kids can all do their part to make sure children do not share space with vehicles. A five-second walk around the car before you get in could save a child's life.

Backover and Frontover Facts

In the United States from 2001 to 2003, approximately 2,500 children per year ages 1 to 14 were taken to emergency rooms after being struck by a vehicle in a driveway or parking area.

An average of 229 children per year died after being struck by a vehicle in a driveway or parking area.

Close to half of children injured in these incidents were ages 1 to 4.

Spot the Tot is a Service Mark of Primary Children’s Medical Center Foundation.

Never Leave Your Child Alone

Leaving a child in a vehicle for a "quick" errand - even for a minute - could be a deadly mistake. Unfortunately, a child alone in a car, even on a mild day, can become overheated quickly. This can lead to tragedy in just a few minutes.

Heat is much more dangerous to children than it is to adults. When left in a hot vehicle, a young child’s core body temperature may increase five times faster than an adult's. This could cause permanent injury or even death.

According to research conducted by San Francisco State University, even with relatively cool temperatures outside (70 degrees), the inside of a car can reach a dangerous temperature in just minutes.

The research also revealed that more than half of the children who died from heat stroke were accidentally left behind in a closed, parked car by parents or caregivers, and another third of these children became trapped while playing unattended in a vehicle. Sadly, one in five children who died were intentionally left in the vehicle by an adult.

Heat Stroke Facts

Since 1998, more than 500 children in the U.S. have died from heat stroke while unattended in a car.

The inside of a car can quickly become very hot. On an 80-degree day the inside of a car can reach 100 degrees in just 10 minutes.

Young children are particularly vulnerable since their internal systems to regulate body temperature are not fully developed.

When the body temperature reaches 104 degrees, the internal organs start to shut down. When it reaches 107 degrees, the person dies.

More Information

Preventing Trunk Entrapment

For many kids, a car trunk looks like a fun place to play or hide. Tragically, many families have discovered that kids can get in the trunk, but they can't always get out. Unlocked cars are open invitations for children to explore. Parents should teach children that vehicles are not toys and they should never play in them. Unattended cars should always be locked and key fobs kept out of reach of children.

Trunk Entrapment Facts

Cars manufactured after 2001 have an emergency trunk release, a glow-in-the-dark handle that will open the trunk from the inside in an emergency.

Children can access trunks in several ways, even without having the vehicle's keys.

Most cars have a lever or button located near the driver's seat that pops the trunk open, while other cars also have fold-down seats or a "pass through" that allows children to climb into the trunk from the back seat.