Thirty-One Children Died of Vehicular Heatstroke Last Year, and Most Were Forgotten Rather Than Left

Thirty-one children died of vehicular heatstroke in the United States in 2025, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, down from 39 in 2024. NHTSA reports that more than half of pediatric vehicular heatstroke deaths result from a parent or caregiver forgetting a child in a car. NHTSA reports that vehicle interior temperatures can rise 20 degrees in as little as 10 minutes. Ask your childcare provider or school to call you if a child does not arrive as expected, and to treat an unexplained absence as urgent rather than assumed. NHTSA reports 31, down from 39 in 2024.