Hot Cars: Look Before You Lock

Three young children died in separate hot-car incidents during the final days of July, renewing an urgent warning for parents and caregivers.

The deaths included a 2-year-old girl in Midland, Texas, on July 26; a 7-month-old girl in Vernal, Utah, on July 28; and a 1-year-old boy in Lawrenceville, Georgia, on July 29. Seventeen child hot-car deaths had been recorded nationwide in 2026 as of early August.

Children are especially vulnerable because their body temperatures rise three to five times faster than those of adults. A vehicle can heat up by about 20 degrees in only 10 minutes, even when the outdoor temperature does not seem extreme.

Cracking a window or parking in the shade does little to make a vehicle safer. Heatstroke can begin when the body’s core temperature reaches about 104 degrees and can become fatal at approximately 107 degrees.

More than half of pediatric vehicular heatstroke deaths occur after a parent or caregiver unintentionally forgets a child in the vehicle. These incidents are not limited to neglectful caregivers. Distraction, fatigue, a quiet or sleeping child and an unexpected change in routine can combine with the brain’s reliance on familiar habits.

Other children die after climbing into unlocked vehicles and becoming trapped. Parents should therefore lock parked vehicles, keep keys and remote-entry devices out of children’s reach and teach children that cars are not play areas.

The danger is not unfamiliar to the Coachella Valley. A national hot-car fatality database includes three local cases since 1998: a 22-month-old girl in Desert Hot Springs in 2001, a 2-year-old girl in Indio in 2005 and a 3-year-old girl found unresponsive in a vehicle in Indio in 2022. The circumstances of the 2022 death were listed as unknown.

In April, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office issued a renewed “look before you lock” warning for La Quinta and Coachella. The agency advised drivers to check the back seat every time they leave a vehicle and to place an essential item—such as a purse, phone or wallet—in the back as a reminder.

Parents and caregivers can also ask childcare providers to call immediately when a child does not arrive as expected. Extra caution is important when a routine changes or someone who does not normally handle drop-off is transporting the child.

If a child is seen alone in a locked vehicle, call 911 immediately. A child who appears distressed or unresponsive should be removed from the vehicle and cooled as quickly as possible while emergency help is on the way.

Every trip should end with the same routine: park, look throughout the vehicle and lock only after confirming that every child is safely out.