More than 63 reports of children locked in cars were made in Brimbank in the year to August 31, renewing calls for parents to stop the deadly practice.
Data from Ambulance Victoria for the 12 months reveals Brimbank paramedics found that children were most commonly locked in cars in Sunshine, Caroline Springs, Taylors Lakes and Deer Park.
Caroline Springs had the highest number, with 11 offences recorded.
Sunshine recorded eight offences, as did Taylors Lakes and Deer Park.
St Albans had six offences and Keilor East four.
Brimbank’s Sergeant Mick Downes said police had been called to Watergardens shopping centre last month to rescue a locked-in child.
“Some parents just aren’t understanding the dangers associated with this kind of decision,” he said.
“The temperature can rise in a car even on a mild day. There’s no air and it can go bad very quickly.”
The mercury topped 31 degrees in mid- November when the Watergardens incident happened. Tests by Ambulance Victoria have found that on a 29-degree day the inside of a car can reach 44 degrees within 10 minutes, and the temperature can reach 60 in 20 minutes.
Sergeant Downes said Brimbank Central and Watergardens shopping centres, and Sunshine Plaza, were among the most common spots for car lock-ins.
Ambulance Victoria manager Brett Drummond said leaving a child in a hot car was “totally avoidable”.
The maximum fine for doing so is $3690. “Being left in a hot car can quickly become life threatening for babies and young children as they can’t regulate their body temperature like adults can,” Mr Drummond said.
“You wouldn’t get out of the car to go shopping and leave your ice-cream in the back seat, so why would you leave your children there?’
Mr Drummond said the cases of children being left in locked-in cars were a mix of deliberate and careless acts.
“It’s also common for keys to be accidentally locked in the car with the child. About a quarter of cases occurred outside a residential address.”
