Backseat Alarm
Safety tips
Simple, expert-backed habits that make forgetting impossible.
Daily routine
Look before you lock
Every single time you park, open the back door and look inside before you walk away. Make it as automatic as putting on the handbrake.
— NoHeatStroke.org
Set a phone reminder for drop-off
If your routine changes — a different parent doing drop-off, a new daycare — set a calendar reminder that fires five minutes after your expected arrival, asking 'Did you drop off the child?'
— Safe Kids Worldwide
Emergency
Call 911 the instant you realize
If you see a child alone in a car, call emergency services immediately. Minutes matter: a child's body heats up three to five times faster than an adult's.
— NHTSA
Break a window if needed
If a child appears unresponsive inside a locked car and help is not moments away, break a window away from the child to get them out, then move them to shade and cool them with water.
— NHTSA
Awareness
Heatstroke can happen at 14°C
A car can reach lethal temperatures even on a mild 14°C day. Never assume the weather is too cool to be dangerous — the greenhouse effect heats the interior far above the outside air.
— NoHeatStroke.org
Cracking a window does almost nothing
Studies show that leaving a window slightly open has almost no effect on how fast the interior heats up. Never rely on it as a safety measure.
— NHTSA
The back seat is the safest spot
Children under 13 belong in the back seat — it is the safest place in a crash. The safety habit of checking that seat every time you leave protects them in both ways.
— American Academy of Pediatrics