• Even with a window slightly open, on a typically sunny, summer day, the temperature inside a vehicle can reach potentially deadly levels within minutes.  When left in a hot vehicle, a young child’s core body temperature may increase three to five times faster than that of an adult. This could cause permanent injury or even death.
• Teach children that cars are not a play area.  Children can accidentally put the car into gear, release the emergency brake causing the car to roll, or leave the car without the driver’s knowledge. 
• Restrain all children in the appropriate child restraint to prevent them from accidentally activating power windows that can cause injury. Young children should not have the opportunity to get in or out of a car without the assistance of an adult, especially in a parking lot or street.  Children are unaware of hazards around them.

• Never leave a child alone in a vehicle.
• Always lock car doors and trunks and keep keys out of children’s reach.
• Watch children closely around cars, particularly when loading or unloading.
• Check to ensure that all children leave the vehicle with you when you reach your destination. Don’t overlook sleeping infants.
• Make sure that all children are restrained in the proper child restraint to prevent access to power windows. Remind older children that are over 80-100 pounds and 4’9" to stay properly seated in the safety belt. Children under that height and weight should be in a car seat with a harness or a booster seat.
• Children of any age should not have unsupervised access to power windows.

If you observe a young child left alone in a vehicle, or not in a car seat in a moving vehicle, please call 911 or the local California Highway Patrol at 464-3117. If possible have the make and model of the vehicle, license number and approximate age of the child.