Ethiopian Review

CHANDLER, AZ — It happened Sunday, July 12, just as 21-year-old Valerie Artigas was leaving work.

“I got into my car and sat down,” she said. “And the penny got caught in between my legs and shorts.”

“I thought I had third-degree burns,” added Artigas.

That penny had been sitting on Artigas’ car seat in the sun for six hours.

It left one nasty burn.

“I screamed pretty loud,” said the Chandler resident.

Ironically, Artigas drives a Pontiac Sunfire.

But there’s no irony about how hot the inside of cars can get in Arizona — some with temperatures pushing 200 degrees.

What happened to Artigas raises an important warning about staying safe in your car during the triple-digit heat of summer.

And doctors say burns from car seats, child car chairs and safety belts have caused second-degree burns.

To see just how hot items inside a car can get, ABC15 left one out in the sun for hours.

After letting it bake, we used a point-and-click thermometer to check the temperature of several things inside the vehicle.

Here’s what we found:

- The steering wheel hit 126 degrees.

- The car seat reached 167.

- The hottest was the safety belt at 177 degrees.

- And for good measure, we left a penny on the seat. Honest Abe got to 150 degrees.

But how can people keep temperatures down?

Car experts say there are several very simple things that make a big difference like using sunshades and cracking the windows and moon roof.
“It can lower it by 20 to 30 degrees,” said Jay Jennings, General Manager of Neighborhood Auto Repair Professionals.

And as for Valerie Artigas: “Now when I go in a friend’s car, I go ‘Wait! Check your seat,’” she said. “I wouldn’t want anyone to go through the same thing.”

“It was pretty horrible.”

- By Dave Biscobing | ABC15