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Hot Cars Act May Help Stop 'Forgotten Baby Syndrome'

Dean Wissing via Flickr

A bill  before lawmakers in Congress would require car makers install technology reminding drivers when a child is in the back seat. It’s a move to help prevent the occurrence of “forgotten baby syndrome,” where a child is accidentally left in a car as potentially fatal temperatures soar. The “Hot Cars” Act is getting bi-partisan support since it was unveiled earlier this month in Washington DC. 

One of the people in attendance at that ceremony was Dr. David Diamond from the University of South Florida. He’s a leading researcher in the neurobiology of “forgotten baby syndrome,” and he joins the show to address the question that rushes to mind when a child is left in a hot car: “How can a parent forget their child? How is that possible?”

Also joining the program is Sally Kreuscher, Safe Kids Coordinator with Golisano Children's Hospital, about the year-round threat we face here in Southwest Florida when it comes to this and similar heat-related issues.

Copyright 2020 WGCU. To see more, visit WGCU.

Matthew Smith is a reporter and producer of WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live.
Julie Glenn is the host of Gulf Coast Live. She has been working in southwest Florida as a freelance writer since 2007, most recently as a regular columnist for the Naples Daily News. She began her broadcasting career in 1993 as a reporter/anchor/producer for a local CBS affiliate in Quincy, Illinois. After also working for the NBC affiliate, she decided to move to Parma, Italy where she earned her Master’s degree in communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Her undergraduate degree in Mass Communication is from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
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