Florida Child Injury Law Blog

Posts Tagged ‘hyperthermia’

We keep our little ones safely ensconced in the back seat of the car, belted and padded, out of harm’s way. But what happens if while a busy mom is running errands, dashing here and there, with so many things on her mind, the child in that nice, safe seat falls asleep? And the unthinkable happens—Mom, distracted, gets out of the car and forgets the sleeping child in the back. The closed car becomes an oven. As the sun shines through the glass, the greenhouse effect pushes the temperature higher and higher. Hyperthermia—heatstroke—sets in, and the result is death.

“What kind of parent allows such a thing to happen?” you ask. Tragically, the answer is good parents, according to a University of South Florida professor of neuroscience, the St. Petersburg Times reported in a July 29^th article. David Diamond studied 50 of the cases of child death from hyperthermia as a result of being left in cars, and in every case, he found that otherwise good parents experiencing a combination of sleep deprivation, stress, and change in routine had suffered a memory lapse.

Children here in Florida are at a greater risk because of our intense summer heat. Children should never be left in cars, even for a moment. KidsAndCars.org, an organization dedicated to preventing child injury and death in cars, suggests that when you first get in, put something you absolutely must have—like your purse—on the back seat next to the child, to avoid forgetting to take your child with you.

Our child injury blog includes this very difficult subject to raise public awareness and because we are committed to keeping children safe. One child injury or one child death is one too many.

Understanding and protecting the rights of children is imperative.  No parent, guardian or caretaker of a child should ever leave a child unattended in a motor vehicle.  This applies not only to family members but naturally to babysitters and day care centers as well.    

Children suffer serious bodily injuries and death being left in a car from a variety of dangers such as: extreme heat  or hyperthermia, strangulation from activating power windows and crashing when a car is knocked into gear. 

Florida State Statute:  FSS 316.6135 states  the following about leaving children unattended or unsupervised in a motor vehicle and the penalty of doing so.

“No parent, legal guardian, or other person responsible for a child younger than 6 years of age shall leave such child unattended or unsupervised in a motor vehicle for a period in excess of 15 minutes; however, no such person shall leave a child unattended for any period of time if the motor vehicle is running or the health of the child is in danger.” “Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (1) is guilty of a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable by a fine of:  Not more than $100; or not less than $50 and not more than $500 if the motor vehicle was running or the health of the child was in danger at the time of the violation.”

Any law enforcement officer who observes a child left unattended or unsupervised in a motor vehicle in violation of subsection (1) may use whatever means are reasonably necessary to protect the minor child and to remove him from the vehicle. If the child is removed from the immediate area notification should be placed on the vehicle.

Twelve states have laws specifically prohibiting leaving young children alone in cars. Child advocacy organization, Kids and Cars has been an influential lobbying group in the effort to toughen up legislation addressing the problem. “We’re trying to get people to realize it is just as dangerous to leave a child alone in a vehicle as it is to leave him near a body of water,” said founder and president Janette Fennell.  She reports “There are more states that make it illegal to leave an animal alone in a car than a child,  there has to be a specific law to make it illegal to leave a child alone. We want people to understand the dangers.”