After a long winter, people look forward to warm sunny days.  But with them comes the opportunity for sad news: report after report that a child has died of hyperthermia, also known as heat stroke, while unattended in a vehicle.

Believe it or not, it can happen in February with temperatures as low as 57 degrees.  But starting in March, when the sun gets stronger, the numbers begin to climb with peak incidents occuring during the summer months.  These tragedies affect mostly infants and toddlers, but it can happen to children of all ages. 

Since 1998, over 520 children have died as a result of hyperthermia, with an average of 38 per year.  Sadly, about half of the children are forgotten when the driver arrives at a destination.  That driver becomes distracted and forgets he or she has a child in the back seat and continues their routine.   The rest were either playing in an unattended car and were unable to get out, or were intentionally left by an adult "for just a few minutes."  Learn how you can help raise awareness and prevent these tragedies in your community.

Our Child Passenger Safety and our Safety In and Around Cars Program are sponsored by the General Motors Foundation