According to a University of San Francisco study, 18 children in the US have died this year after being left in hot cars. Two of those children were from Florida. Parents are often charged in these cases, but that may not be the best way to prevent more deaths.St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue and the Suncoast Safe Kids Coalition recently led a demonstration to show the dangers of leaving children unattended in cars. They attached a large digital thermometer to a car to show how quickly temperatures rise.
As the numbers rose, Dr. Beth Walford, a pediatric surgeon at All Children's Hospital, said that heat in cars can become deadly.
"Once they get up to a certain temperature they start to have mental status changes where they're not as alert", explained Walford. "They can get nausea, vomiting, seizures, organ failure, and then when they hit about 107 is when we start seeing fatalities."
The interior temperature of the vehicle at the start of the demonstration was 88 degrees. That soon rose to 118 degrees, much higher than the temperatures Walford described as being potentially lethal.
Both men involved in hot car deaths in Florida this year have been charged with aggravated manslaughter.
"Law enforcement individuals have been conflicted. In general they have accepted that it was a tragedy and that the parent forgot, but they feel an obligation to prosecute the parent. When a child dies people feel someone should pay the price", said Dr. David Diamond, a professor at the University of South Florida.
Dr. Diamond studies memory and forgetting. He thinks parents leaving their kids in cars is a tragedy but he doesn't think it's a crime.
"I've actually gotten to know many of these parents", said Diamond. "I have seen their trauma. I've sat with them in their homes and I've talked with their families and I have talked with them in courtrooms when I've served as an expert witness to help explain to juries how this truly can happen to anyone."
According to Diamond, making examples of these parents may not be the best idea. It can make it seem like only bad parents forget their children, which he says is not the case.
"And parents who have said that they could never do this - in fact they are the very same parents who have forgotten the kids as well", Diamond said. "So the first thing I think it's important to do is not be in denial."
Florida is one of 20 states in the nation that has laws specific to leaving kids in cars. It is illegal for someone in Florida to leave a child 6-years-old or younger in a car for longer than fifteen minutes.
Judith Scully, a professor of law at Stetson University, says the law brings attention to the problem.
"Once you have a law it does raise awareness of the general public about a particular issue", Scully said.
And Diamond says that awareness alone may not prevent future incidents.
"They put the child in the car seat and almost instantly - that's what the evidence indicates - almost instantly they forget the child is in the car", said Diamond.
Janette Fennell is the founder and president of kidsandcars.org, a child safety organization. She says the law in Florida isn't good enough.
"You can't leave your child alone in a car for it's either like five minutes or fifteen minutes", Fennell said. "Well, there shouldn't be any amount of time that you leave a child alone in a car."
Fennell says technology is the best solution to prevent parents from leaving kids in cars.
"You know you can't educate your brain or your memory not to fail, that's impossible, so that's why technology will be important for the future", said Fennell.
There have been some attempts to create that technology. The Suddenly Safe Pressure Pad, the ChildMinder Smart Clip System, and the ChildMinder Smart Pad are all products that are currently on the market.
However, a 2012 study by the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration found all of them to be unreliable.
Fennell's child safety group is calling for funding for the Department of Transportation to do research on technology to prevent kids from being forgotten. They also want auto makers to eventually be required to install this technology in all vehicles.
"It's really hard to believe that a reminder couldn't be added for a child because in today's world you really can't buy a car that either doesn't automatically turn off your headlights or remind you to turn off your headlights", Fennell said.
Until foolproof technologies are widely available, St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue and the Suncoast Safe Kids Coalition are providing reminders for parents whenever they can.
At the hot car demonstration in June, Deputy fire marshal Lieutenant Steve Lawrence said parents can use the technology they already have to remember their children.
"We're encouraging people to also maybe set an alarm on your phone, ok, as a reminder, hey, we have a child in the back seat as well", said Lawrence.
Lawrence says the St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue has started providing a low-tech solution - cards that can be hung from a rearview mirror that say "Where's Baby?"