Be especially careful about keeping children safe in and around cars during busy times, such as the holiday season. There are an alarming number of children who have been injured or killed after being left alone in or around vehicles.

Leaving children unattended can be very dangerous. In the last five years alone, 275 children have died after being left alone in or around vehicles, 43 in California. Even with the windows left partly open and temperatures in the 60’s, heat stroke can lead to permanent brain damage or death in a matter of minutes. Some real-life scenarios where children were injured or killed, include:

• Children let themselves into an unlocked parked car and lock themselves in or put the car in gear.
• The caretaker unknowingly leaves the child behind (e.g., parent forgets to bring the child to child care and the child is left in the car while the parent works or the child is left in the vehicle after a field trip) and dies of heat stroke.
• The child is unintentionally left alone in the car while the caretaker engages in another activity (e.g., runs an errand, drops a child off at school) and is abducted or sets the vehicle in motion.
• The child is behind the car when the car is backing out of the driveway and, because they cannot be seen, the child is run over.

Child Care Providers can:
• Tell parents about the dangers of leaving children alone in or around vehicles.
• Post a Kids ‘N Cars Poster (www.kidsncars.org)
• Keep car keys our of reach of chidren and keep vehicles locked, even in the driveway and garage.
• Create written policies to call the parents of a child expected at child care when he/she is not dropped off within 1-2 hours of the expected arrival time. Ask parents to contact you if a child will not be attending child care as normally scheduled.
• Ensure that children are not left unattended in vehicles by parents during drop-off or pick-up times.
• Review and enforce “role call” policies before, during and after outings with children to be sure no one is left behind.