Even if you think you’ll be in and out quickly, leaving children or pets unattended in a vehicle can lead to injuries and much worse. This applies to the elderly and infirm as well. Learn about heatstroke and other risks you may not have considered.
Leaving children and pets in the car — even for a few minutes — can lead to catastrophic outcomes.
Cars can get deadly hot very quickly
It doesn’t have to be particularly hot outside for the inside of a vehicle to harm a person or pet. When it’s 73 degrees outside, the inside of a car can reach 100 degrees within 10 minutes, according to Accuweather. After just two minutes, it could exceed 90 degrees. And cracking the windows doesn’t help.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people at the greatest risk of heatstroke include:
- Infants
- Children under 4 years old
- People age 65 and older
- Overweight people
- People who have certain illnesses or take certain medications
Symptoms of heatstroke include:
- An internal temperature of 103 degrees or higher
- Red, hot or dry skin
- A rapid pulse
- A throbbing headache
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Confusion
- Loss of consciousness
A temperature of 107 can be fatal to humans, and children’s bodies heat up three to five times as fast as adults’ bodies. Even if there is no fatality, heatstroke can quickly and permanently damage the brain, heart, kidneys and other organs.
In addition to severe and sometimes fatal heatstroke, heat exposure can cause heat exhaustion.
Symptoms of heat exhaustion include:
- Faintness or dizziness
- Excessive sweating
- Clammy skin
- Nausea
- A rapid pulse
- Muscle cramps
Pets can suffer from heatstroke, too
Pets can also suffer from heatstroke when left in a hot car. They may be at even greater risk than people because they are more sensitive to high temperatures and can’t mitigate heat in the same ways as humans.
For example, dogs don’t sweat like humans. They expel heat from their bodies by panting. If the air is humid or hot, the cooling effects of panting are largely negated. Pets can quickly suffer brain damage or death when confined in a hot car.
Signs of heatstroke in animals include:
- Increased panting
- A rapid pulse
- Glazed eyes
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
How to care for a child or pet suffering from heatstroke
When a child or pet is displaying signs of heatstroke, move them to a cooler or shady area. Seek medical or veterinary assistance as soon as possible. While waiting for emergency responders, reduce their temperature by using cool water or a cool, wet towel on their neck and back. But do not cover their eyes, nose or mouth.
Dangers beyond heat
Although heatstroke and heat-related illnesses are among the most common and serious hazards of leaving children and pets in the car, they are not the only dangers.
When you leave a car unattended, you risk it being stolen. If a child or pet were left inside, they would be abducted along with the car, a horrific event that can be avoided by not leaving them alone in the vehicle in the first place.
Additionally, cars are dangerous pieces of machinery, and children and pets can easily injure themselves or others when left unattended. Some people might think leaving a car running with the air conditioner on can mitigate the risk of heatstroke, but it creates its own hazards.
A careless child or excited pet can bump the gear shift, causing the vehicle to roll and injure the occupants or even nearby pedestrians. And windows can be played with, leading to serious finger or arm injuries.
Some parents leave children and pets in cars out of convenience. They may think an errand will take only a minute and it isn’t worth the hassle of unbuckling kids or dropping pets off at home. Others simply forget their children and pets in the car.
Purposefully leaving kids in a car accounts for around 14% of hot car deaths, according to KidsandCars.org, a nonprofit advocacy group for auto safety. Between 1998 and 2019, 54% of children who died in a hot car were forgotten by a caregiver, and 26% got into the vehicle on their own, according to CarProUSA.
Deaths of children and pets in hot cars can be reduced by being aware of their presence and following precautions when exiting your vehicle. Reduce the risk of forgetting children and pets in the car by:
- Making a habit of looking in the back seat whenever you leave your car
- Placing a reminder in the front seat that signals there is a child or pet in the back
- Putting a crucial item next to your child or pet, such as a purse, wallet or anything you will never leave the car without
Additionally, keep unattended cars locked to prevent children from getting into hot parked cars.
Damage to your vehicle
Leaving children and pets in an unattended vehicle can hurt the vehicle, too. This is certainly less catastrophic, but costly nonetheless.
Damage done to your interior by children and pets is typically not covered by insurance, since it is considered wear and tear. For example, if a dog or cat severely scratches the exterior of your car unexpectedly and you have comprehensive (or other-than-collision) coverage on your auto insurance policy, you would likely have coverage for that damage (less your deductible). But any urine, vomit, stains, rips or other damage to the interior done by attended or unattended occupants would be considered noncompensable wear and tear.
If someone were to break your window or otherwise damage your car to retrieve a suffering child or pet, you might have recourse to insurance for the broken window if you have comprehensive coverage. The same cannot be said if your unattended child playing in a vehicle breaks the glass, destroys the upholstery or causes any other interior damage. In general, damage done by a member of your family is not covered, whether they are named on the policy documents or not.
Who covers treatment for the victim?
In the dreadful event a person or pet is injured when left unaccompanied in your vehicle, neither your auto insurance medical payments coverage nor your personal injury liability coverage would help with the cost of medical treatment. Those are specifically for auto accidents.
You would need to turn to your health insurance policy to treat the heat-related illness. And for animals, if you don’t have pet insurance and your animal needs veterinary care because of heat exposure, you would have to pay out of pocket.
The best way of protecting yourself and your traveling companions is to prevent heat-related injury in the first place. Don’t think parking in the shade or cracking windows will suffice.
Make your plans around safety. That might mean using a delivery service for essentials if you cannot run errands without bringing your child or another vulnerable person with you. Or it might mean hiring a companion or sitter who can watch over your family member while you go out. The inconvenience and cost are very small when compared to the tragedy you could be preventing.