8 ways to prevent deadly hot car tragedies this summer

With scorching summer temperatures, experts are sounding the alarm once again: never leave a child in a car — not even for a moment. Already this year, 15 children across the U.S. have died in hot vehicles, including five in just an eight-day stretch in June.

>>> 'It can happen to anybody': First responders warn of hot car deaths

Hot car deaths are tragically common and entirely preventable. Most cases are accidents — often involving loving, attentive caregivers whose routines are disrupted. As the summer heat intensifies, here are 10 steps parents and guardians can take right now to avoid a devastating loss.

1. Always open the back door

Make it a habit to check the back seat every time you park. Even if you’re certain no one is back there, forming this habit can save a life.

2. Follow the ‘Stop. Look. Lock.’ rule

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration encourages drivers to remember: once you park, stop, look in the back seat, and lock the car.

3. Use a visual cue in the front seat

Place a stuffed animal or toy in the passenger seat when your child is in the back. It’s a simple reminder that your child is with you.

4. Keep essentials in the back

Put your phone, wallet, purse or briefcase in the back seat so you’re forced to turn around before leaving the vehicle.

5. Set up a childcare check-in system

Have your daycare or babysitter call you if your child doesn’t arrive as expected. That extra step could alert you in time.

6. Teach your child to signal for help

Show children how to honk the horn or turn on hazard lights if they find themselves trapped in a vehicle.

7. Lock your vehicle at all times

Children can enter unattended vehicles and get stuck. Always keep car doors locked in your driveway or garage, and store keys out of reach.

8. Speak up and act

If you see a child alone in a vehicle, check for responsiveness. If the child appears unwell or unresponsive, call 911 immediately.

Remember: It Can Happen to Anyone

Experts stress that these tragedies are not limited to negligent or abusive parents. In nearly half of the cases, the caregiver had intended to drop the child off at daycare or preschool but simply forgot.

Thursdays and Fridays — often the busiest days of the workweek — have seen the highest number of hot car deaths, according to federal data.

Bonus: What’s Being Done at the Federal Level?

In 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included a mandate for the U.S. Department of Transportation to implement new safety rules aimed at preventing hot car deaths.

However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is now more than a year past its November 2023 deadline to publish final rulemaking. As of July 2025, even the proposed rule has yet to be released — missing the agency’s own projection of April 2025.

In a statement to CBS News, an NHTSA spokesperson said, “As part of this complex rulemaking, NHTSA is analyzing more sophisticated technologies to detect and alert parents if a child is in the back seat, as well as assessing the effectiveness of seat occupant detection systems.”

Some automakers have already begun voluntarily installing these safety features. Still, advocates like the group Kids and Car Safety — which championed the original legislation — are urging the federal government to act without further delay.