Kaitlin’s Law became effective on January 1, 2002 making it a citable offense to leave a child 6 years of age or younger unattended in a motor vehicle without supervision of someone at least 12 years old. The law is named in memory of Kaitlin Marie Russel of Corona who died in August of 2000. Kaitlin was only 6 months old when she lost her life to heat stroke after being left behind and forgotten in her babysitter’s van.
Did you know in 2005…….
- 140 children lost their lives and hundreds of others were put at risk or suffering injuries from being left in vehicles.
- 41 of the fatalities were the result of hypothermia or heat stroke– 28 of which occurred during the months of June, July and August.
Your car becomes a oven in minutes:
- The temperature inside a vehicle can become like an oven within minutes. Even on a moderately cool day, the temperature inside your can can exceed 100 degrees within minutes. When it is 88 degrees outside, lethal temperates can be reached within 10 minutes or less. Cracking the windows does little to reduce the temperature inside your vehicle.
- A child’s body tempurature increases 3-5 times faster than that of an adult and they can become dehydrated in minutes.
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