The heat inside your car can turn deadly in minutes this summer
Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry group, said more than 215 new vehicle models already offer some type of warning system [for children left in rear seats]. But Fennell, of Kids and Car Safety, and Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said most of those innovations don’t go far enough.
“The technology is never perfect because it’s trying to capture human behavior, which is all over the place,” Brooks said.
By Stephanie Zimmermann
June 21, 2024
If you thought you could safely leave your kid or dog in the car and dash into a store, you’d be wrong.
A Sun-Times test this month — before the recent heat wave hit — found the inside temperature of a parked car in a sunny spot rocketed to dangerous levels in minutes.
For a baby or child, that could spell death, as has happened to at least 21 kids in Illinois since 1990.
The black 2015 Toyota Corolla we tested June 13 on a residential street in Irving Park reached 103.1 degrees in 15 minutes and 114.1 degrees in 45 minutes, according to a sensor placed inside the car out of direct sunlight.
On the day of the test, the outdoor temperature was 88 degrees with a nice breeze and low humidity — a comfortable Chicago day.
The rate at which the temperature rose was fastest within the first 10 minutes, consistent with other tests around the country.
Click here to view the full story from The Chicago Sun Times.
