As we officially enter summer, hot car deaths begin to happen with more frequency.
The biggest question on most minds is, how can anyone forget a child in a car?
ABC10’s Tracy Humphrey spoke with a psychologist who said it’s easier than you might think.
“If your automatic routine of getting out of the car doesn't usually involve a kid and a kid's there, that would be a really easy and unfortunate way to forget,” Alexandra Morrison, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Sac State, said.
According to the safety organization Kids and Cars, on average, 37 children die each year by being left in hot cars. Morrison says be mindful and in the present moment can help prevent that if you’re riding with a child.
“Especially, the way our lives are these days, here's so much going on in our minds at any given moment and we're limited at how many things we can think of at a given time,” Morrison said. “So if you take a point in your day, any given point in your day, there's so many different places that your mind can be. Not very often is our mind actually on what we're doing right now.”
Morrison said she’s been studying these questions for the past 10 years, and trying to figure out why our minds are limited and what we can do to change that. She added establishing a dependable routine, and if needed, writing it down so you don’t forget it.
“We're not always thinking about where we are right now,” Morrison said. “So, you're getting out of that car and you're late to that doctor's appointment, you're often thinking about where you need to be. You're mad at yourself about what you did that led to this. But you're not always thinking about what am I doing right now, which could be how you make one of these mistakes.”
As a reminder, it is illegal to:
- Leave a child up to 6 years old unattended, UNLESS they are supervised by someone at least 12 years old.
- Leave children or pets in conditions that present a significant risk to their health and safety
Children and pets confined to vehicles in rising temperatures can result in dehydration, stroke, or death.
