What are the dangers of leaving children in the car in the sun?

Leaving a child in a car in the sun is a truly dangerous practice, especially during the summer, since temperatures inside the cabin can reach up to 60 degrees.

In summer we often have to deal with the uncomfortable heat waves that cause thermometers to frequently exceed 40 degrees. Therefore, we must bear in mind that things we do the rest of the year cannot be done now, since they can become very dangerous due to the high temperatures. So keep in mind our tips for driving during a heat wave.

If you have children, grocery shopping is often something they hate and you find annoying. So, many times by mutual agreement, they prefer to stay in the car, and the idea of going to the supermarket in peace also appeals to you. However, this is one of the practices that must be avoided at all costs in summer, since in the USA alone it leaves an average of 38 children dead.

From a medical point of view, the human body must not exceed 42 degrees, since beyond that point the risk of suffering heatstroke is very high. When we leave a car in the sun, its cabin can reach very high temperatures, turning it into a dangerous sauna on wheels.

Leaving a child in a car in the sun is really dangerous

Considering the age of the children who died in Europe after being left inside the vehicle, children under 2 years old account for 65% of all of them. The reason is that they are the most vulnerable due to the immaturity of their thermoregulation system. When outside temperatures are very high, their body is unable to maintain a normal body temperature. Therefore, hyperthermia combined with dehydration can lead to death.

El Race has taken part in an investigation to find out the interior temperature of a car when parked in the sun. Reference periods of between 27 and 29 degrees were used, considering three different situations: a fully closed vehicle, one window open 5 cm and two windows open 5 cm (to create a draught).

The cabin temperature can exceed 60 degrees

With the car fully closed, the results show that even though the outside weather is stable, the interior temperature of the car can rise by up to 10 degrees in just 10 minutes. The longer the time passes, the more drastic the change, since after 30 minutes the thermometer reads twice the outside temperature. After two hours, the temperature soars above 60 degrees.

If we open a window, the temperature varies compared with the previous situation between 5 degrees (at 80 minutes) and 10 degrees (at 11 minutes). However, with extreme temperatures it can reach as high as 54 degrees.

With two windows open, the values drop because greater airflow is achieved. Even so, the temperatures inside the cabin remain extreme, since after one hour, they can exceed 53 degrees.

It is true that there are variations in all three cases, but it is also true that the temperatures recorded in any of them can lead to heat stress situations. This has a greater impact if the occupant is a small child, since they do not have the capacity to counteract the problem.

New technologies are already being developed in child seats to prevent children being forgotten

Therefore, awareness that leaving a child in a car in the sun is very dangerous is essential. Child seat manufacturers are also helping the cause, as they have developed a type of technology that alerts to the presence of a baby in the cabin. These devices make it possible to know information about the child, such as whether the harnesses are fastened, the temperature, or how long they have been seated.

These new devices connect to the mobile phone via Bluetooth and work once the app required by the system is installed. Once everything is installed correctly, the device will alert the mobile phone if the driver moves out of the Bluetooth signal range, which is between 10 and 20 metres. If the driver does not act, the app itself sends a signal to the predefined emergency contacts.

Therefore, the conclusion is that we must avoid at all costs leaving a child in the car, since temperatures inside the cabin soar and the risk of suffering heatstroke increases considerably. In addition, if you are going to travel with children soon, don’t miss our 10 tips for travelling with children in summer.