Failure to Remind: Solutions for Hyperthermia Deaths Resulting from Children Being Left in Cars Pro bono white paper framing pediatric vehicular hyperthermia deaths as a preventable engineering problem requiring a failure-to-remind safeguard, rather than solely a criminal deterrence problem. Argues that as reminder technology (Bluetooth, sensor-equipped car seats such as Evenflo SensorSafe, mobile apps) becomes feasible and inexpensive, the standard of care for vehicle and car seat manufacture should evolve to include rear-seat alert and auto-cooling safeguards, analogous to the Refrigerator Safety Act of 1956, seatbelt mandates, and No-Mow-in-Reverse switches. Proposes that existing authority of the CPSC over durable infant products and NHTSA over vehicle safety already permits regulatory action, and that a federal Hyperthermia Safety Act or functional equivalent should require integrated reminder technology. Original draft created July 26, 2016, last modified July 29, 2016. Self-published July 2016 at site no longer hosted. Emailed to KidsAndCars.org (email@kidsandcars.org) August 2, 2016 6:11 AM re: hyperthermia, law and public policy. This upload is an archival reprint of the original text, published to Zenodo in 2026 to provide a permanent DOI. The analysis predates introduction of H.R. 6041, the Helping Overcome Trauma for Children Alone in Rear Seats (HOT CARS) Act of 2016, on September 15, 2016, and contributed to the advocacy campaign that led to inclusion of a rear seat reminder mandate in Pub. L. 117-58 (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, 2021).

What should we, as Californians and Americans, do to ensure that no child is left unattended in a car?Our hearts break a little for every story in the paper about a child who has been left in a hot car by ahurried and distracted parent. For many of us who know the difficulties of modern parenting, whenjuggling childcare and careers, we are forced to identify with the caregivers who are perhaps sleepdeprived from nightly feedings or distracted by an abrupt change in routine, and we wish that therewere more resources available to these parents and their children. But instead of looking for ways tosolve the problems of distractedness and help caregivers with better support, all too often societyseems to blame and prosecute caregivers after tragic accidents.