Trends and Patterns:
Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths
1998-2020

Also available as a PDF at:  https://www.noheatstroke.org/Heatstroke_Trends.pdf

Contents – Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Fig. 1. Date and Location of First Death
Fig. 2. Monthly Distribution
Fig. 3. Monthly Timeline
Fig. 4. Running Total at the end of each Month
Fig. 5. Distribution of Circumstances
Fig. 6. Annual Distribution
            Fig. 6a-c. Annual Distribution by Circumstances
Fig. 7. Day of the Week
            Fig. 7a-c. Day of the Week by Circumstances
Fig. 8. Age Distribution
            Fig. 8a-c. Age Distribution by Circumstances
Fig. 9. Relationship of Responsible Party
            Fig. 9a - c. Responsible Person by Circumstances
Fig. 10.  State Percentage of PVH Deaths by Category vs. National Averages
 Fig. 11.  Location of the Vehicle
 Fig. 12.  Temperature Range (1998-2020)
 Fig. 13. Distribution by State Map
 Fig. 14. Per Capita State Distribution Map
 Fig. 15. States with Unattended Child in Vehicle Laws
 Fig. 16. States with “Good Samaritan” Child in Vehicle Laws

Fig. 1. Date & Location of First US Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Death (1998-2020)

Fig. 2. Monthly Distribution of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Fig. 3. Monthly Timeline of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

  Monthly Totals  
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Unk Total 
1998       2 4 9 10 11 3       1 40
1999     1 1 2 8 16 4 1         33
2000     1   8 6 7 10 3 1       36
2001     2 1 4 8 10 10 2 1 1     39
2002     1   1 7 9 7 4 2       31
2003       2 4 10 10 12 2 3       43
2004   1 2 5 4 4 9 7 6 1       39
2005         3 9 12 11 10 2       47
2006       2 2 6 7 10     3     30
2007     2   3 6 9 7 8 1       36
2008   1 2 2 2 6 11 12 3 4       43
2009     1 2 3 11 7 6 2     1   33
2010     1 3 6 10 8 15 7 1       51
2011     2   6 10 8 3 3 2       34
2012         4 6 6 12 2   3 1   34
2013         8 9 9 8 9 1       44
2014       4 4 8 7 3 2 3       31
2015       1 1 6 3 8 5   1     25
2016 1   1 3 4 7 9 4 6 4       39
2017   2 2 3 3 10 13 7 2 2       44
2018   1 2 1 8 12 10 9 9       1 53
2019       3 7 8 8 14 7 5 1     53
2020       1 1 4 8 6 3 1       24
                      Total 1998-2020 > 882
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Unk Total 
Avg. < 1 < 1 2 2 4 8 9 9 5 2 < 1 < 1 < 1 38
Max. 1 2 2 5 8 12 16 15 10 5 3 1 1 53
Min. 0 0 0 0 1 4 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 24
 

Fig. 4. Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths, Running Total at the end of each Month (1998-2020)

  Running Totals through end of each month:
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Final
1998 0 0 0 2 6 15 25 36 39 39 39 39 40
1999 0 0 1 2 4 12 28 32 33 33 33 33 33
2000 0 0 1 1 9 15 22 32 35 36 36 36 36
2001 0 0 2 3 7 15 25 35 37 38 39 39 39
2002 0 0 1 1 2 9 18 25 29 31 31 31 31
2003 0 0 0 2 6 16 26 38 40 43 43 43 43
2004 0 1 3 8 12 16 25 32 38 39 39 39 39
2005 0 0 0 0 3 12 24 35 45 47 47 47 47
2006 0 0 0 2 4 10 17 27 27 27 30 30 30
2007 0 0 2 2 5 11 20 27 35 36 36 36 36
2008 0 1 3 5 7 13 24 36 39 43 43 43 43
2009 0 0 1 3 6 17 24 30 32 32 32 33 33
2010 0 0 1 4 10 20 28 43 50 51 51 51 51
2011 0 0 2 2 8 18 26 29 32 34 34 34 34
2012 0 0 0 0 4 10 16 28 30 30 33 34 34
2013 0 0 0 0 8 17 26 34 43 44 44 44 44
2014 0 0 0 4 8 16 23 26 28 31 31 31 31
2015 0 0 0 1 2 8 11 19 24 24 25 25 25
2016 1 1 2 5 9 16 25 29 35 39 39 39 39
2017 0 2 4 7 10 20 33 40 42 44 44 44 44
2018 0 1 3 4 12 24 34 43 52 52 52 52 53
2019 0 0 0 3 10 18 26 40 47 52 53 53 53
2020 0 0 0 1 2 6 14 20 23 24 24 24 24
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Final
Avg. 0 0 1 3 7 15 23 32 36 38 38 38 38
Max. 1 2 4 8 12 24 34 43 52 52 53 53 53
Min. 0 0 0 0 2 6 11 19 23 24 24 24 25

Fig. 5. Circumstances Resulting in Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)
Important Note: 46% of the deaths in the “Forgotten” category were on their way to Childcare/Preschool.

Fig. 6. Annual Distribution of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)
with 5-year running average

Fig. 6a.  Annual Distribution of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Death
by “Forgotten” Circumstance; with 5-year running average (1998-2020)

Fig. 6b. Annual Distribution of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Death
by “Gained Access” Circumstance; with 5-year running average (1998-2020)

Fig. 6c. Annual Distribution of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Death
by “Knowingly Left” Circumstance; with 5-year running average (1998-2020)

Fig. 7. Day of the Week Distribution of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Fig. 7a. Day of the Week Distribution of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Death
by “Forgotten” Circumstance (1998-2020)

Fig. 7b. Day of the Week Distribution of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Death
by “Gained Access” Circumstance (1998-2020)

Fig. 7c. Day of the Week Distribution of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Death
by “Knowingly Left” Circumstance (1998-2020)

Fig. 8. Age Distribution of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

*Average Age: 26.7 months
 *The methodology used to calculate average age has been modified from previous editions. Previously, reported ages in years were converted to months; for example 2-years as 24 months, 3 years as 36 months, etc. However, in rethinking the data, it was realized that a 2-year old could be anywhere from 24 to 35 months etc., so 2-year old ages were adjusted to 30 months, 3-year old ages to 42 months, etc.

Fig. 8a. Age Distribution of “Forgotten”
Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Average Age: 18.3 months

Fig. 8b. Age Distribution of “Gained Access”
Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Average Age: 47.5 months

Fig. 8c. Age Distribution of “Knowingly Left”
Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Average Age: 23.0 months
Fig. 9. Relationship of Responsible Person of
Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Fig. 9a. Relationship of Responsible Person in “Forgotten” Circumstances of
Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Fig. 9b. Relationship of Responsible Person in “Gained Access” Circumstances of
Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Fig. 9c. Relationship of Responsible Person in “Knowingly Left” Circumstances of
Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Fig. 10. State Percentage of PVH Deaths by Category vs. National Averages (1998-2020)

- Only states with 14 or more PVH fatalities are listed to have a reasonable sample size.

- Highlighted entries deviate 10% or more from the National Averages for each category.

Fig. 11. Location of Vehicle in Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Fig. 12. Percentage of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths by Temperature Range (1998-2020)

Fig. 13. State Distribution of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Fig. 14. State Per Capita Distribution and Rank of Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths (1998-2020)

Fig. 15. States with Unattended Child in Vehicle Laws (2020)

Fig. 16. States with “Good Samaritan” Child in Vehicle Laws (2020)