Look before you lock: How hot can the inside of a vehicle get in the heat?

QUAD CITIES, Iowa/Ill. (KWQC) - Since 1998, 959 children have died due to Pediatric Vehicular Heat Stroke after being left in an unattended hot vehicle.

The inside of your vehicle can heat up very quickly, whether the outside temperature is 95° or 75°.

It’s important to “look before you lock.”

Through August 21, 19 children in the United States have died after being left in a hot vehicle unattended, the youngest being two-months-old.

On August 21, 2023, a one-year-old girl died in Omaha, Nebraska after being left in a van during the hottest part of the day. It was 97° with a heat index of 113°.

On average, 38 children day each year due to childhood heat stroke.

When it is 90° or hotter outside, the inside of your vehicle can heat up quickly, regardless if it is in the shade or out in the sun.

After 10 minutes, the inside of a closed vehicle can be 115°. After one hour, that temperature sky rockets to 136°.

It doesn’t have to be 90°outside, or even 80 degrees. At 70°, the inside of a closed vehicle can get as hot as 112 degrees after one hour.

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