Purple Ribbon Press Conference 2010

Photography by Hailey Golich

A press conference was held on August 4th to announce “Purple Ribbon Month” to raise awareness for child safety in and around cars.

This demonstration shows that you can’t see a child up to 14 feet behind your car. Click here for flyer.

A thermometer was placed in the back seat of a car and the initial temperature read 85 degrees. In less than 30 minutes with the doors shut the temperature rose to 120 degrees.

Sheriff Donny Youngblood greets the children at Mercy Child Development Center before they participate in a car safety demonstration.

“Kaitlyn’s Law” was put into affect in 2001 after the death of 6 month old Kaitlyn Marie Russell who was left in a car and died from hyperthermia. An average of 37 children in the United States dies each year as a result of heat-related causes.