Amid 11 Hot Car Deaths This Summer, Bergen County Officials Have Warning For Parents

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — The National Weather Service has issued heat advisories for the area every day for weeks, and Bergen County officials have reminded people never to leave kids and pets in cars, even briefly. But sometimes, those warnings aren't enough.

A website called Kids And Cars has compiled decades of stories of the children who were accidentally left in hot cars, sometimes due to a change in a routine when kids were to be dropped off at day care by a different parent than usual. Other times, kids crawled into a hot car during a game of hide-and-seek and got stuck.

The ongoing heat wave in North Jersey is not expected to end any time soon, with temperatures in Bergen County predicted to reach 87 both Thursday and Friday and 90 on Saturday.

11 Kids This Summer, Including NJ

So far this summer, 11 children have died after being left in hot cars, according to Accuweather. The latest tragedy occurred on Monday in New Jersey. A Jackson Township man, 28, was charged after leaving an 8-week-old baby girl in a hot car, where she died, police said.

Starting last week, the County of Bergen has opened several emergency cooling centers to help residents stay cool during the current heat wave. In addition, several towns have desginated public spaces such as public libraries, shopping centers, recreation centers, and senior centers as cooling centers.

In their announcement about the centers, county officials warned residents, "It is NOT okay to leave a child or pet in a locked vehicle even for a moment, as temperatures can rise quite quickly. It is also imperative to lock all parked vehicles so children cannot accidentally lock themselves inside while playing games like hide and seek."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said this year, "Over the past 25 years, more than 970 children have died of heatstroke, because they were left or became trapped in a hot car."

The record number of such deaths occurred in both 2018 and 2019, when 53 children died each year, according to NoHeatstroke.org.

The NHTSA has advised:

1. Never leave a child in a vehicle unattended for any length of time. Rolling windows down or parking in the shade does little to change the interior temperature of the vehicle.
2. Make it a habit to check your entire vehicle — especially the back seat — before locking the doors and walking away.
3. Ask your childcare provider to call if your child doesn’t show up for care as expected.
4. Place a personal item like a purse or briefcase in the back seat, as another reminder to look before you lock. Write a note or place a stuffed animal in the passenger's seat to remind you that a child is in the back seat.
5. Store car keys out of a child's reach and teach children that a vehicle is not a play area.

Awareness Increasing

On the bright side, awareness of the dangers of leaving babies in hot cars has been increasing.

Ten years ago, first responders who saw what they thought was a child in a car in Hoboken broke the glass to reach the "baby." But it turned out it was just a doll.

If you do see a child who may be in danger, call 911.