RACQ urges parents not to leave children unattended in cars

New figures reveal the shocking number of lock-in emergencies RACQ has responded to this past year, with Queensland having the highest number of deaths.

Tributes at a house on Logan Reserve Road, Waterford West, where two girls died after being left in a hot car for more than nine hours in sweltering heat in 2019. (AAP Image/Glenn Hunt)

Parents are being warned to never leave their children unattended in a car, as new data has revealed that two children a day are being rescued from locked cars in Queensland.

In the past year alone, RACQ patrols responded to more than 1700 lock-in emergencies across Queensland.

Brisbane recorded 351 incidents of lock-ins – the highest in the state – followed by the Gold Coast with 220.

RACQ crews responded to 88 lock-in emergencies across the Darling Downs.

General Manager Assistance and Automotive Mark Boswell said that “while many of these cases are accidental, there are things you can do to avoid the risk”.

“You should never leave children or pets alone in the car, always keep your keys on you and don’t give them to your child to play with,” Mr Boswell said.

“The most common scenario our patrols see is the parent has given the child the keys to play with while they load items into the car.”

The warning comes after a two-year-old died while trapped inside a car at Innisfail, in Far North Queensland, in November, on day when temperatures reached 30C.

Queensland has the highest number of children in the country being fatally injured after being left in a vehicle.

Three children died from heat stress in vehicles in Queensland during 2023-24, according to the Queensland Family and Child Commission.

Throughout the five years to June 30 2024, seven children have died when they were unintentionally left alone or became trapped in vehicles.

All deaths were children under the age of four.

Kidsafe QLD chief executive Susan Teerds said those numbers were “unacceptably high”.

“People are continuing to leave their children in cars and we just don’t know why,” she said.

“Sometimes it’s because of a routine change or when parents are distracted.”

Ms Teerds said infants and toddlers were most at risk as “they lose fluid and become dehydrated very quickly”.

“They can’t regulate their body temperature like older children or adults can and they suffer heatstroke much faster.

“The problem is the temperature inside the car can get twice as hot in five minutes.”

A recent Queensland Government campaign has sought to educate parents about the potentially devastating lifelong consequences of leaving a child alone in a car, even if it is just briefly.

“Look before you lock” was launched to help prevent the tragic situation of children being left behind in buses.

Ms Teerds said the onus was ultimately on parents to never leave children unsupervised inside a car.

“You’ve just got to look before you lock the car … and always take your children out of the car with you,” she said.