AAA warns about high vehicle temperatures

By Staff
Hot weather and children don't always mix. This can especially be the case when children are left alone in hot vehicles.
According to AAA, 42 children died from heat stroke after being left in unattended vehicles in 2005.
Parents and childcare givers should understand that children can die within minutes in hot temperatures. The same caution applies to the elderly and pets.
All are susceptible to heat illness, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Parking in shade, cracking windows open and tinted windows do not make a difference in the interior temperature of a closed car, according to pediatric researchers.
Doctors warn that if it's a 90 degree day, it could be 130 inside a car. Within minutes the temperature can climb to 150 degrees. In a short time, a child can become dehydrated with the body's internal temperature climbing above 107 degrees. Even five minutes locked in a car when it's hot outside endangers children, adults and pets.
AAA-Alabama urges motorists: