Carrie Underwood’s baby locked in car is a reminder to everyone

Carrie Underwood’s two dogs and 4-month-old son were accidentally locked inside a car Saturday in the Tennessee heat. The country star had to smash a window to get them out. Luckily, everyone was safe.

In 2014, 30 children were left inside hot cars and died.

“We don’t see it a lot probably because people are a little more in tune to the heat out here, but accidents do happen,” said Rick Griggs of Cal Fire. “Things get busy, people are doing stuff, and they usually result in tragedies.”

When it’s hot outside, it’s even hotter inside the car. For children, the heat can be especially dangerous.

“Part of that is because their thermoregulatory system is immature,” added Griggs. “They don’t sweat like adults do, they don’t have the mechanisms in their body and they don’t control their own heat as well.”

If you come across a child in a hot car you should immediately call 911 and do everything to get the child out — even if that means breaking a window. Griggs recommends using a window punch to do so. If that doesn’t work, cover the window with a sheet or something similar to shade the vehicle until police arrive.

Leaving a child alone in a hot car is a crime.