Last year was a terrible year in terms of deaths caused by hot vehicles. Whether a child or pet was left in a car as a tragic accident, or was intentionally abandoned in the heat, more deaths than ever seemed to dominate local and national news. While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hasn’t released any new guidelines for pets left in vehicles (yet), they’re not messing around when it comes to saving children from hot cars. Take a look at one of the government agency’s latest tweets below.
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Protecting children is everyone’s business. Child in danger? Take action. #CheckForBaby https://t.co/NA2vDfU4ek pic.twitter.com/7pLaWCtMUf
— NHTSA (@NHTSAgov) April 26, 2016
Featured prominently in the tweet’s graphic is a coffin sitting in a full graveyard. The car itself, presumably the reason the child is dead, is merely a shadow on the grass. The graphic’s text reads “It doesn’t take much to lose a child to heatstroke. When a child’s temperature reaches 107 degrees, they die.” Extra care was taken to set the words “they die” out from the rest of the text. In the past, NHTSA seemed to deal mostly in gentle reminders when it comes to teaching drivers how to make good decisions. Now, they are forcing parents and caregivers to consider their beloved children in coffins if they are left in a vehicle unattended.
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If users click the link in the tweet, they are taken to a page on the NHTSA’s Safercar.gov website to learn more about the dangers of hot kids left in cars, including what to do if you see a child in a hot vehicle. According to the website, if a child is unresponsive or is showing signs of distress, citizens should call emergency services and get the child out of the car as soon as possible.
As the season starts to warm up, please remember to never ever leave a child (or pet) alone in a hot vehicle.
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