Katie Bieri

The Republic | azcentral.com

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office has announced its launch of a countywide public-awareness campaign about the dangers of leaving children in hot cars.

"These tragic incidents occur with an unfortunate regularity every summer, and we believe many are preventable," County Attorney Bill Montgomery said as he introduced the "Don't Leave Me Behind" campaign on Friday.

So far this year, 21 children have died nationwide as a result of being forgotten in vehicles, Montgomery said.

No Valley children have died this year as a result of being left in hot cars, Montgomery said, but 35-year-old Shanesha Taylor of Phoenix made national headlines in March after she left her 2-year-old and 6-month-old sons alone in a car while she attended a job interview. Taylor reached a deal with prosecutors last month that would allow her to forego felony charges if she completes parenting classes and sets up trust funds for her children.

"Enough is enough," Montgomery said. "We're going to be much more overt in trying to carry this message."

The first part of the Maricopa County campaign includes a large, mobile billboard that features a child and a dog in a hot car with the words, "Don't Leave Me Behind." The billboard will travel throughout the Valley on busy streets, highways and shopping centers for about 40 hours a week through August.

"We want to provide an impactful and visual reminder to people to make sure they don't forget a child or pet when they park their vehicle," Montgomery said.

The second part of the campaign includes a public-safety announcement that will be broadcast on local television stations in August and September. Last, the county will give away windshield shades at community-outreach events for drivers to place in their cars as a reminder of the consequences of leaving children in vehicles.

Montgomery also recommended an app called "Baby Reminder," which helps to monitor parents' driving times and set alerts to remind them they have a baby in the car. The app is available for free in the iTunes App Store, along with other similar apps and products that have surfaced recently.

Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that more than 600 children have died in vehicles due to heatstroke between 1998 and 2013. Currently, heat-related illness represents the No. 1 cause of death for children in cars under the age of 14, aside from crash-related fatalities.

While the "Don't Leave me Behind" outreach effort was proposed fairly late this summer, Montgomery promised that the county will reinstate the campaign much earlier next year.