Since 2010, seven children in Georgia have died of heatstroke because they were left unattended in vehicles, and Gov. Nathan Deal insists that no child be left alone in a hot car again. “In only minutes, the inside or your car can become a deathtrap for a child,” he said.
The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning recently launched the “Look Again” campaign, which calls for children’s caretakers to always check their backseat twice before leaving the vehicle to ensure no child is left behind. “Leaving children unattended in vehicles has become a leading cause of non-traffic, vehicular death across the nation,” said DECAL Commissioner Amy Jacobs. “Except for car crashes, heatstroke is the No. 1 killer of children.”
Gov. Deal, along with his wife Sandra Deal and Jacobs, encouraged parents and caregivers to take special precaution, especially during the hot summer months, to never leave a child locked in the car alone.
The governor also asked members of the public to immediately call police whenever they see a child left alone in someone else’s vehicle. A new state law permits breaking into a locked car to rescue a child.
“Your first reaction is that ‘That’s just not my business,'” he said. “Make it your business.”
Over 370,000 children in Georgia are cared for and transported daily by about 5,300 child care providers, Jacobs said, and each day her agency receives calls informing them that children were left in vehicles, sometimes up to several hours.
A thermometer measuring the internal temperature of a parked car at the press conference showed it to be 148 degrees inside while the outside temperature was 85 degrees, as a demonstration of the high risk of vehicular heatstroke.
“When you’ve checked to make sure everyone is out of the vehicle, please look again,” Jacobs said.
