Parents Start Pledge After Child Dies In Car

Leaving a child in a hot car is often not a case of neglect, but a gut-wrenching mistake made by distracted parents. That was the case when Kristie and Brett Reeves lost their 1-year-old daughter after Brett Reeves forgot to drop her off at day care and instead headed straight to work. It was three hours later when they realized the horrible mistake. Ray Ray died at a near by children's hospital. Now they're trying to prevent more deaths with Ray Ray's Pledge.

The pledge is two parts, where the parents pledge to always keep caregivers informed of any lateness or absences of their children and teachers return the favor, contacting parents over unexplained absences. Since one in five children swelter to death after being forgotten about on the way to daycare keeping such a pledge could mean life or death for some children.

After the tragedy, the Reeves found out they were not alone. On average, 38 children die every year after being left in cars, and in most cases it's a parent's forgetfulness, and not negligence, which factors into a child being left in a car. This year is on pace to be one of the worst for child deaths since 2010 when 49 children died in hot cars. Read more about how to protect your children here.