At least 23 children have died of vehicular heatstroke in the United States so far this year, according to a running count kept by Kids and Car Safety and referenced in NHTSA’s ongoing heatstroke-prevention campaign. Most of the deaths didn’t involve a car left running in a driveway while a caregiver stepped away for a minute; they involved a child nobody realized was still inside.
Key Points
- Of the 23 confirmed 2026 deaths tracked by Kids and Car Safety, 16 involved a child who was unknowingly left in the vehicle by a caregiver, four involved a child who gained access to a car on their own, and one was a case where a child was knowingly left.
- NHTSA’s own data backs up that pattern nationally: more than half of all pediatric vehicular heatstroke deaths happen because a parent or caregiver forgot a child was in the car, according to the agency’s heatstroke campaign page.
- Separately, NHTSA notes that more than 230 children have died since 1998 after gaining access to an unattended vehicle on their own and becoming trapped.
- Most of the 2026 deaths so far have been toddlers: seven were 1- or 2-year-olds and four were 3-year-olds, per the Kids and Car Safety breakdown.
- Florida leads all states with six deaths recorded this year, followed by Tennessee, Utah and Alabama with two each.
Why This Keeps Happening
A child’s body heats up three to five times faster than an adult’s, according to NHTSA. Heatstroke can begin once a child’s core body temperature reaches roughly 104 degrees, and death can occur around 107 degrees, a threshold a closed car can reach in well under an hour even on a mild day, since interior temperatures climb fastest in the first 10 to 20 minutes a vehicle sits in the sun.
Over the past 25 years, more than 1,000 children in the U.S. have died this way, per NHTSA. The annual toll fluctuates: 2018 and 2019 each saw a record 53 deaths, and 2025 saw 31, according to NHTSA’s tally. Safety researchers who study these cases have repeatedly found that being a loving, attentive parent doesn’t make anyone immune. A break in routine, a change in who’s driving, or exhaustion can override the part of the brain that normally remembers a passenger is on board.
What Parents Should Do
- Put something you need at your final destination (a phone, bag, or ID) in the back seat so you’re forced to open the back door every time you park.
- Ask your child care provider to call you if your child hasn’t arrived within 10 minutes of the expected drop-off time.
- Keep vehicles locked at all times, even in the driveway, and store keys and fobs out of a child’s reach so kids can’t climb in on their own.
- Teach children that a car is not a place to play or hide, and that if they’re ever trapped inside, they should honk the horn.
- If you see a child alone in a hot car, call 911 immediately. Many states have laws protecting bystanders who break a window to rescue a child in obvious distress.