Warm weather's back — and with it, reminders to prevent hot car deaths

Spring is about to give way to summer, and with warmer temperatures comes the heightened need to ensure the safety of children and pets riding in cars. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that on average, 37 children die each year of heatstroke after being left in vehicles or trapped in them — based on that average, a child dies this way somewhere in America about every 10 days.

2018 and 2019 were particularly tragic, with 53 children dying in each of those years. Since 1998, the federal agency says, 969 children have died this way. And of course, one would have been too many.

NHTSA designated May 1 as National Heatstroke Prevention Day because of this. And perhaps its efforts to raise awareness nationally, along with those in the states and locally, are saving lives. Last year, the death toll declined to 29 children. Yet, still too many.

The same fate can befall pets, primarily dogs, that are forgotten, or purposely left, in cars. There aren't statistics on that, but it's safe to say it happens hundreds of times per year.

It's really not just a hot-weather problem. Temperatures inside a sealed vehicle can reach dangerous levels even when outside temperatures are cool. Consumer Reports testing found that an outside temperature of 61 degrees resulted in an interior temperature of 105 degrees in just one hour. NHTSA breaks it down even further in the tweet below.

And cracking a window makes little difference. Take a look:

NHTSA notes three scenarios that put kids at risk: