The beginning of summer has come and the season is in full swing. For many families, summer means road trips and even staycations. As temperatures rise, parents are being told to look twice before they walk away from their vehicles.
The Hot Cars Act of 2017 would make it a requirement for new cars to have safety equipment installed that would alert drivers to children in the backseat of vehicles. Until the bill passes, parents are urged to check the backseat before they leave their vehicles.
It is not unusual for people to underestimate just how hot it can get inside a vehicle. On a 79 degree day, a car parked in the sun can heat to over 100 degrees in 10 minutes. It’s also important to understand that children heat up three to five times faster than adults do. That means a child will overheat and suffer the effects of heat illness and stroke more rapidly than an adult in the same set of circumstances.
Since 2010, 13 children have died from vehicular heatstroke. In most cases, the deaths are not intentional. Parents simply forget that they have children in the backseat, especially when they are distracted or out of their normal routine. If the Hot Cars Act of 2017 passes, all cars would require backseat alarms in as soon as two years.
If your child has sustained some type of injury in Atlanta due to someone’s error or negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for medical bills and more. Reach out to our team of experienced child injury attorneys and let us discuss your legal options with you.