OnStar Cautioning Drivers on Vehicle Heat Danger for Kids

Nation on Pace for Record Number of Child Deaths from Hyperthermia

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Aug 04, 2010, 10:00 ET

DETROIT, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Only parents and caregivers can be sure their child or pet is not left unattended in a vehicle, but with August's hot temperatures, OnStar advisors are ending calls by cautioning drivers who push the blue button to avoid a potentially fatal mistake.

From Aug. 1-14, a non-emergency contact from an active OnStar-equipped vehicle will close with the advisor's caution: "Please remember when it is hot not to leave kids or pets alone in a vehicle."

The National Weather Service takes the caution even further.

Since March 28, at least 28 children in the United States have died in hot vehicles, where their body temperatures can quickly rise to deadly levels. The number of deaths is a record pace for any year since meteorologist Jan Null began tracking data in 2001.

"These are kids who have been unintentionally left in cars or who climbed into cars to play," said Lorrie Walker, training manager and technical adviser for Safe Kids Worldwide, a child safety organization that recently sent a "Never Leave Your Child Alone" hyperthermia reminder to its 370 U.S. coalitions and chapters.

"When finally found, they were either unresponsive or deceased," Walker said. "It's a terrible way to die, and families suffer the grief from this for a lifetime."

Null, a meteorologist at San Francisco State University tracks vehicle-related hyperthermia deaths on his Golden Gate Weather Services website, said one reason why awareness is lacking is that incidents occur only rarely in many states. Texas and Florida are among the leaders in child deaths from hyperthermia.

OnStar got on board with the special closing message as an additional way to raise awareness.

"If we can help prevent this from happening even once, the time it takes for our advisors to speak the reminder is more than worth it," said Scott Kubicki, OnStar vice president of Subscriber Services.

About OnStar

OnStar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors, is the leading provider of in-vehicle safety, security and communication services. OnStar is available on more than 30 model year 2011 GM models. OnStar is standard for one year on nearly all new GM retail vehicles in the United States and Canada. OnStar provides services to more than 5.5 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. Shanghai OnStar Telematics Co. Ltd., a joint venture between OnStar, LLC, Shanghai Automotive Industry Sales Co., Ltd. and Shanghai General Motors, provides services in China. More information about OnStar can be found at www.onstar.com. OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown is a recipient of the 2010 Edison Award for Best New Product in the technology category.

SOURCE General Motors