For example on a hundred plus degree day the interior can reach nearly 140 degrees in only 90 minutes. Which is why Fresno mom Brandy Higley never leaves her kids in the hot car, but speaks from experience when she says there's other everyday items you should take along with you as well.
"We've left iPhones in the car and then the screens get real black so it damages them," explained Higley.
Not only damages them, but experts at The Geeks Computer Service in Clovis say the heat can also ruin electronics by cooking screens, cracking lenses and baking memory cards. In some cases their components can also be dangerous.
"Think about leaving any sort of battery in the heat," said Jay Petersen. "It's just not something you want to do. They can leak, they can cause fire later because there's internal damage to the battery and now your computer is drawing on that battery power."
Items such as aerosol cans and cigarette lighters can also explode when stored in areas above 120 degrees. The heat can also warp the shape of frames or lenses on your sunglasses. And the chemicals used to make plastic bottles can leach into the water you leave in the car. But probably one of the most dangerous items to forget in the car is prescription medications.
Pharmacist Khoa Huynh insists they should always be stored at room temperature. He says the heat can change the chemical composition of the drugs causing them to lose their potency, and in many cases rendering them inactive.
"We should always check," said Huynh. "Definitely check the backseat, check your console just to make sure you don't have any of your eye drops or medications and just take it out, take it with you, put it in your bag and it should be safe that way."
