Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is trying to increase awareness of the problem of leaving kids or pets inside a parked car.
The prosecutor says that can create a death trap for pets and children and he believes people often pay more attention to their cell phones than those in their vehicles.
“Even if you’re halfway across the parking lot, even if you’ve got your hand on the door to a store, ‘I forgot my phone, who knows might call me. Who knows who might text me. Something could occur,'” Montgomery said.
Montgomery issued another warning: don’t think rolling the windows down a little will help. In the Arizona heat, he says it won’t.
Montgomery said if you see kids by themselves in a car in the heat, you should call 911, and if they’re in distress get them out of the car as quickly as possible and try to cool them off.