In article >,
"Bob Terwilliger" > wrote:


> I grew up in Florida in the late 1950's and the 1960's. It was *nothing* to
> be left unattended in the car; in fact, when given the choice, my younger
> sister preferred to wait in the car rather than being dragged to whatever
> mind-numbing activity my parents had in mind. Temperatures were usually in
> the nineties in the summertime. So what? We lived in a hot climate; we were
> acclimated to it. The story clearly states that the temperature in Ringgold
> was in the eighties that day -- not even CLOSE to unhealthy.
>
> Yeah, the kid was sweating: It was hot, but not dangerously so.


A car parked in the sun when it's 90 can easily reach 120 to 140
degrees. This is heat stroke temperature, and isn't just dangerous, it
could be fatal. 235 kids have died from this since 1998:

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/safety/a/05_hot_cars.htm