Children are not just injured in Hollywood and Florida car accidents. Even when a car is not moving, it can pose a serious danger for a child. For example, about 37 children die, on average, due to being forgotten in a car. Even on an overcast day, the heat inside a car can reach very hot temperatures very quickly, especially in Florida.
All parents believe they would not forget their child in a car, but as a Pulitzer-award winning journalist has uncovered through an investigative report, virtually all parents are capable of forgetting a child in a car. According to psychologists, the phenomenon is not caused by bar parenting but rather by distraction. When parents have a routine and then one day the routine is broken (by a later start, someone else dropping the kids off, or a different route, for example), this is when a tragedy can happen.
According to advocacy organization KidsAndCars.org, there are several things parents can do to keep their kids safer:
1) Get into the habit of checking your back seat. If you create a habit of sweeping your eyes over the backseat each time you get out of the car, you’re more likely to notice anything, such as a child asleep in the back.
2) Have a fail-safe with others. Your daycare or child caregiver should call you at once if a child does not show up and no-one has called to report the child will be absent.
3) Set up a reminder for yourself. Place your cell phone, car keys, or something you need under your child’s car seat. You will be reminded you left something in the backseat when you reach for something you have with you at all times and find it missing. Another option is to place a large stuffed toy in the back seat of the car. Each time you strap your child into their car seat, place the toy in the front seat. You will have a visual reminder a child is in the back seat.
4) Secure your vehicle. Don’t allow a child to get into your car and get trapped. Keep your car doors and trunk locked when your car is not moving and keep your keys well out of reach of children. Do not leave children unattended around cars. If a child gets out of your sight, check the car first, including the trunk and back seat.
If your child has been injured by heatstroke due to the negligence of a caregiver or due to any recklessness, contact Flaxman Law Group at 1-866-352-9626 (1-866-FLAXMAN) for a free accident consultation with a Hollywood child injury attorney. We represent parents who have suffered losses and offer legal advice to families affected by serious injury.