Alarming report reveals number of children locked in cars as a heatwave hits the state

A worrying number of children left locked in cars in SA this summer has prompted a warning from authorities as a heatwave takes hold of the state.

Almost 1000 children have been locked in cars in need of rescuing over the past three years in South Australia, an alarming report show.

As SA experiences a heatwave with temperatures hitting north of 40C in some parts of the state this week, horrifying data reveals RAA has responded to 986 incidents of children being locked in cars since the beginning of 2020.

This report includes 284 incidents with children in 2022 and 44 rescues this summer, a number which equates to more than one every two days.

However, many of those incidents were parents locking their keys in the car by mistake while a child was inside, and immediately calling for help.

Parents should not “under any circumstances” leave children unattended in parked vehicles, RAA senior manager of safety and infrastructure Charles Mountain advised.

“In a lot of these instances it’s simply because someone has accidentally locked their keys in their car,” he said.

The heat inside a car can quickly rise to more than double the temperature outside.

“During heatwaves like the one we’re experiencing this week, it’s even more vital because the temperature inside a locked car will climb to dangerous levels within minutes.”

He continued to say that parking in the shade or winding car windows down “doesn’t make much difference”.

Cars on the beach at Aldinga Beach this summer. There’s no suggestion children were left in any of these vehicles. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

An RAA experiment showed that a car left in the sun for 20 minutes can record temperatures north of 80C inside and that light coloured cars, while attracting less heat, can still rise to more than 70C.

Mr Mountain said just a few minutes of exposure to high temperatures inside a vehicle can cause harm to children.

“If you do find yourself in a situation with a child or pet in a locked car, act quickly and try to remain as calm as possible so you don’t distress your child.”

The warning comes as earlier this month a three-year-old boy died while being left by mistake in a hot car in Sydney on a day which saw a maximum temperature of 35C.wan