Kids and Car Safety activist Angela Jones is advocating for child safety in vehicles by commemorating her daughter Charlotte’s memory and striving to avert further hot car tragedies. Jones highlighted the common factor in hot car deaths as parents deviating from their routine and is urging vehicle manufacturers to incorporate sensors to mitigate these unfortunate incidents.
WINTER HAVEN, Fla.– A 1-year-old girl died after being found in a car for an unknown amount of time in Florida on Tuesday.
The Winter Haven Police Department said they responded to a home on Tuesday afternoon for an infant that was left inside a vehicle.
It’s unknown how long the child was left in the vehicle, police said.
WHEN SECONDS MATTER: CHILDREN EXPERIENCE HEATSTROKE SYMPTOMS WITHIN MINUTES OF BEING IN A HOT CAR
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – SEPTEMBER 2, 2019: A ‘Baby On Board!’ sign hangs in the back window of a car in Nashville, Tennessee.
(Robert Alexander / Getty Images)
Upon arrival, they immediately began life-saving measures and took the baby to the hospital. A later update stated the baby girl had died.
Police said she was in the care of her grandmother.
One of the most tragic consequences of extreme heat involves children and hot cars. Since 1998, over 1,000 children in the U.S. have died from heatstroke after being left in vehicles. This year alone, 16 children have already lost their lives this way, including a recent tragedy just this week in Alabama. To discuss ways to prevent these devastating incidents, FOX Weather is joined by Torine Creppy, president of Safe Kids Worldwide.
High temperatures in Winter Haven on Tuesday reached 85 degrees, according to National Weather Service data.
Kids and Car Safety said this is the first confirmed child death in a car so far in 2026.
An investigation into the baby’s death is underway.
