Bring up the subject of inadvertently leaving your child in a hot car and undoubtedly every parent around you will say “I could never forget my child!” Unfortunately, it happens to many parents just like you and me every year. People are not perfect, and they get distracted.
This has been a subject of discussion for years now as the death toll from such accidents seems to rise each year. Many people have developed reminder systems and detection devices, but the report “Reducing the Potential for Heat Stroke to Children in Parked Motor Vehicles: Evaluation of Reminder Technology,” which was published back in 2012 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, found that a lot of these systems are either unreliable or required too much effort to be effective.
One simple idea that proponents say has been effective is putting your left shoe in the back seat. Putting a necessary item in the backseat is not a brand new idea, but not everybody has a laptop or a purse to stick back there as a reminder. We do all wear shoes though!
So every time you get in the car with your child, leave your shoe back there with them. If you do it every time you take a drive, then your risk of getting out of the car without your shoe and your child probably falls to around zero. Tell whoever drives your child anywhere in a car to do this too.
If you want more information, or want to help make sure no more kids die in hot cars, follow the #NEVERLEFT hashtag on Twitter. You can also take a look at the Facebook page http://facebook.com/neverleftinahotcar.
