Heat Tragedies Spur Push For Trunk Escape Latches

Jon Jordan, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Two Oklahoma boys died this week after they got locked inside cars and couldn't get out.

On Thursday, a Cyril family was devastated when their eight-year-old, Preston Mayhan, got himself locked inside the trunk of the family's car and couldn't escape.

Then, on Friday, three-year-old Nate Littledeer got away from his baby sitter, climbed inside a car in the driveway in Norman and, after a few minutes, collapsed and died.

With the mercury climbing past the century mark daily it is no secret that temperatures inside a closed car can soar to dangerous levels in short order. A thermometer placed in this car registered a blistering 130 degrees after only ten minutes.

Because of tragedies like the two in Oklahoma this week, the organization Kids and Cars said that not only can car companies do more to increase safety, but that we could all do more.

"I think we should all be working together so that cars stay locked, but in the remote time that a child might get into a car on their own that there might be a way to get out," said Janelle Fennell, president of Kids and Cars.

One of the ways Kids and Cars has helped improve car safety is through their push to have car makers install safety latches inside a car's trunk that allow the trunk to be opened from the inside.

Related Links: Tips for parents, Tips for Trunk Entrapment, Online Store To Buy "Trunk Release Kit"