LAFAYETTE PARISH, LA – A 2-year-old was found dead in a car at a mobile home park on Sunday afternoon in Duson, LA.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to reports of a deceased male toddler around 3:30 p.m. in a mobile home community in the 6900 block of Cameron Street.
The toddler has not been identified, and no other details surrounding his death are known at this time.
This is the 23rd child to die in a hot car nationwide and the first in Louisiana this year according to KidsAndCars.org.
“We are currently lower than the average number of hot car deaths for this time of year due to the pandemic, but we are concerned that the numbers could increase as routines continue to shift and families begin going back to work and school,” said Amber Rollins, Director of KidsAndCars.org.
Louisiana ranks #7 in the nation based on the number of child hot car deaths with 37 fatalities since 1993. The last two years were the worst years in U.S. history for child hot car deaths with a total of at least 107 children that died.
On average, about 56% of hot car deaths are the result of children being unknowingly left in vehicles while about 26% involve children who got into vehicles on their own.
Although, this year approximately 40% of fatalities involved a child who got into a vehicle on their own.
The Hot Cars Act is a federal bill that would require available, affordable technology to detect and alert of the presence of a child or pet inside a vehicle to come as standard equipment on all motor vehicles. The bill (H.R. 3593) passed the U.S. House of Reps. in July as a part of the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2).
