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CNN Live Sunday

Practice of Leaving Kids Alone in Hot Cars Could Have Disastrous Results

Aired July 08, 2001 - 16:14   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: A seemingly innocent practice by parents could prove disastrous for kids this summer, it's the habit of leaving children locked in hot cars to run that quick errand. CNN's Anne McDermott now with another close call and another warning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNE MCDERMOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A police officer tries to pass a cup of water to two children locked in a van on a very hot day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, they are all sweaty. Are you mom?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened?

MCDERMOTT: What happened is, they could have died.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hot in the car! It's very hot! Do you know that? Did you not think about that?

MCDERMOTT: Too many people don't. In the past five years, 120 children in the U.S. have died in hot cars.

ANGELA MICKALIDE, NATIONAL SAFE KIDS CAMPAIGN: The children literally bake in the car in a matter of minutes. They can't breathe, they begin to lose consciousness, their brain, their heart, all of their body systems shut down. And when the core temperature of the child reaches 108 degrees, they die.

MCDERMOTT: It happened to this child, to this family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Words cannot express the grief and sorrow that our family feels today.

MCDERMOTT: Only a handful of states have specific laws against leaving children alone in vehicles, and organizations like the Safe Kids Campaign are working to up that number and raise awareness. Its corporate sponsor, General Motors, is distributing these pamphlets and it has developed a new censor system that would remind parents a child is in the car, in case they forget.

And that happens. It happens in another child's death in Dallas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She went to work and left the child in the car. Somehow forgot that he was inside the car.

MCDERMOTT: Mostly, though, this happen to parents who run into a store for just a minute, an errand that somehow winds up taking 10 or 20 minutes. And even when it's not all that hot out, cars heat up quickly, and there is another death that could have been prevented.

Sometimes, it does get prevented. Sometimes.

Anne McDermott, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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