Megan Leaderhouse, community outreach coordinator at William Mattar and Emily Lampa did today’s segment in a car with the windows rolled up to demonstrate just how hot the inside of a vehicle can get in just minutes.
Emily says it’s just been a few minutes and they both agree it’s getting hot in the car. Emily says it’s not that hot or sunny and you would assume it’s not that dangerous, but that’s not what people should not take for granted. Megan says yes, that’s what we talk about a lot. You really have to understand that no matter what the temperature is outside, it’s a lot warmer inside a vehicle and when you are thinking of pets, when you are thinking of children, these are little lungs so as much as it is uncomfortable for us right now and even just having a conversation, can you imagine you know when your dog is in the in the car and how excited they get and jumping around and panting, can you imagine breathing in this warm air and being so excited and how quickly you would run out of breath. That’s what we want to raise awareness on.”
Emily says, “We see these terrible stories, it’s very sad, sometimes people leave their kids in the car and sometimes don’t know that they did it. Sometimes it’s by accident because of our busy schedules but that’s why presence of mind is so important around this time of year.”
Megan says, “It’s easy to say I could never forget my child in the car, but usually when you hear the stories it is a change in the routine. So, for example summer just started. You are used to dropping off your kids at school and instead, you have to go to a new daycare, or a new babysitter and you almost go into that autotune when you are driving. There’s been many times, I’m sure when people drive to work, and they say I don’t even remember driving here. So imagine something changes in your routine one day, that’s how these tragedies happen. It’s really just those split-second decisions and mistakes that can change lives forever.
A good tip from the William Mattar Law Firm is when you have a child or a pet in the backseat, leave something in the backseat that you need before you leave the vehicle. Megan says, “Leave your phone in the back there because then you are not going to be tempted to look at your phone, so we are talking about distracted driving too, so you are stopping yourself from driving distracted and you are going to need your phone when you get out to go into work or going into the store and you will check your back seat.”
For more information go to WilliamMattar.com
