Researchers Quantify How Long It Takes For Cars To Reach Killer Temperatures.
TODAY (5/24) reports that researchers have quantified “how long it takes for cars to reach killer temperatures in either the sun or the shade.” Testing six cars of various sizes and makes, researchers found that “left in the sun on a 100-degree day in Arizona, it took just an hour for the interior temperature to hit 116 degrees.” In the shade, “interior temperatures reached 100 degrees after one hour and seats were 105 degrees.” The article points out that heatstroke becomes damaging “when a child’s body temperature rises above 104 degrees.”
HealthDay (5/24) reports that researchers next “modeled how a two-year-old child might fare in such conditions.” The investigators found that just “one hour in a sunny spot or two hours in a shaded vehicle could cause heat injury or even death.” The findings were published online in the journal Temperature.
The Tennessean (5/24) reports that the American Academy of Pediatrics has some recommendations “to minimize child deaths in hot cars,” including never leaving a “small child alone in a car under any circumstances,” not even for a moment, and not even when the car’s air conditioning is running.
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