CORONA - As hundreds of children at
Stallings Elementary School shaded their eyes and watched their purple
balloons drift away, they knew it wasn't just any typical launch.
They had yelled "No kids left in cars!" when they released their purple
balloons Friday morning .
Corona parent Tammy Russell, whose baby daughter, Kaitlyn, died five
years ago after being left in a car on a hot day, spoke to the pupils
about the dangers of leaving children in vehicles.
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| David Degner / The
Press-Enterprise |
| Dylan Mariotti, 11,
watches purple balloons released by Stallings
Elementary pupils as a reminder to not leave
children in cars.
| | | |
"Purple ribbons are a reminder to never leave children alone in cars,"
Russell said. "Cars can heat up quickly. Children can get kidnapped from
cars."
Thieves may take cars with children inside, and children playing around
vehicles can accidentally get locked in, she said.
Even if parents suggest leaving them alone for a bit in the car,
children must speak up, said Corona City Councilwoman Karen Spiegel.
"Say 'I can't,'" she said. "It's really hard to tell your mom or dad
no, isn't it? It's OK. Say, 'I'm not going to let you get in trouble.'"
Since Kaitlyn's death, a 2002 state law named for her makes it illegal
to leave children 6 and younger alone in cars unless supervised by someone
at least 12 years old.
More information about the law can be found at http://www.4rkidssake.org/."It's a promise I made to
Kaitlyn to do everything in my power to prevent it from happening again,"
Russell said. "Even if I save one life, I would have fulfilled my promise
to Kaitlyn."
Representatives from Corona Fire Department, Corona Police Department,
Riverside County Fire Department, CARE Ambulance Service and the
California Highway Patrol also visited the school.
Rosa Ray, a public affairs officer with the Inland CHP division,
demonstrated Friday how hot a parked car can get. At about 9:40 a.m., she
measured the temperature inside of a CHP car. It was about 90 degrees, she
said. After 30 minutes, the car's temperature rose to about 128 degrees.
All CHP vehicles and motorcycles throughout the state will feature
purple ribbons to remind people not to leave children in cars, Ray said.
Some children said they learned from the assembly.
"It's very dangerous to leave kids alone in the car and people think
it's fine, but it's not," said Carissa Jones, 10.
Seulki Kim, 10, said if she ever sees a child left behind in a car, she
would know what to do
"I'll tell my parents and we'll call 911," she said.
Reach Linda Lou at (951) 893-2109 or llou@pe.com
