Too Many Kids in Hot Car Stories

In amongst the usual chaos that makes up the morning TV news shows...the overlapping banter, the casual asides to the weatherman...I recently heard something on Good Morning America that was actually useful.
The news anchor had just completed a story about a toddler who had been accidentally left in a hot car by its father.  The child survived.

The useful part was this:  weatherman Sam Champion suggested that to help them remember the kids were in the back seat, parents should make a habit of putting their work materials (briefcases, purses, lunchbags, etc.) in the back seat with the child.  It's a great idea, I think, for helping to prevent such needless tragedies.

In trying to find the story that Good Morning America referenced, I went to news.google.com and searched for "child" and "hot car."  The search turned up these headlines:

• Burke child dies after left in hot car

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• Kentucky father arrested; accidentally left son in hot car

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• State takes custody of baby found in hot car in Leominster

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Most cases like these, including a few that I have reported on in Hampton Roads over the years, seem to involve a parent forgetting to drop off a small child at daycare and driving straight to work, instead.  It's a mistake that quickly can turn deadly.  On a 94 degree day, the temperature inside a locked car can soar to over 120 degrees in only 30 minutes.

So perhaps Mr. Champion's suggestion, to put the briefcase next to the child safety seat, is a good one.