Distracted Texas Mother Accidently Kills Her 5 Year Old In Hot Car
Yesterday temperatures in Texas reached a record high of 101 degrees.
It's a tragic story that sadly lead to the death of a 5-year-old yesterday afternoon after a distracted mother accidentally killed her son by leaving him in a hot car in Houston.
Yesterday, South Texas reported a record high with temperatures reaching 101 degrees. What was the temperature inside of a vehicle? Livescience.com offers that when temperatures outside climb range from 80 degrees to 100 degrees, the internal temperature of your car can reach a scorching 130 to 172 degrees.
It's suspected that the little boy might have been in the car for three hours before the mother realized he was missing.
Sadly, this happens more frequently than many of us realize. In fact, according to news sources like KXAN, on average, 40 children die each year after being forgotten in the backseat throughout the U.S.
According to Fox8Live, the mother became distracted as she was multi-tasking prepping for her other child's birthday party. Law enforcement reported that the mother was getting everything ready for her daughter's 8th birthday when she forgot that her five-year-old was last with her in the car. On top of that, the family vehicle was being serviced so the car they were in was a rental which could have contributed to the little boy's death, as he was unfamiliar with the locking system of the rental.
Introduced a few years ago, the Senate has yet to pass the Hot Cars Act that would require new vehicles to be equipped with technology that can detect passengers and notify the car owner if someone is still inside when the engine is off. According to USA Today, " KidsAndCars.org has been working on getting the Hot Cars Act passed for years now." According to the article, most people don't understand the number of deaths from this accidental oversight.
According to KidsAndCars.org this year alone, we've lost six children to heatstroke. Of those six, three of the victims, including this Houston 5-year-old were in vehicles in Texas.
Please be sure to double-check your backseats every time you exit your vehicle.
One of the best ways I've heard of to be sure your children are accounted for is to take off one of your shoes and place it in the backseat before you start your trip. That way you physically have to retrieve your shoe from the backseat before you exit your vehicle.
Stay safe Crossroads. Be sure to double-check your backseat if you're traveling with children.
LESSER KNOWN TEXAS TRAFFIC LAWS