Avoid Leaving These Items In Your Vehicle During Extreme Heat

We all do it. We leave things in our cars.

Police across New Jersey have warned us for years not to leave our key fobs in our consoles and every time there’s a rash of auto thefts, they beg us again.

Plenty of people leave wallets or purses in their cars. It seems convenient until you have to replace your shattered car window and your driver's license, debit, and credit cards.

With the extreme heat New Jersey is experiencing there are other things that should not be left in your vehicle either, just for different reasons. We all know not to leave animals and children alone in hot cars, right?

If it’s 100 degrees outside, your car’s interior will rise to nearly 140 degrees in 30 minutes and will obviously be deadly.

But there are plenty of other things that don’t belong in a hot car. According to AAA, here are some things you shouldn’t leave in your car during the excessive heat New Jersey is now experiencing.

Medications

They can lose their effectiveness, including common pain relievers and even life-saving medications like EpiPens.

Sunscreen

Your SPF can break down in extreme heat, meaning it may not protect your skin the way you think it will.

a car with a phone and other objects in it — Photo by Alexey Demidov on Unsplash

Laptops, tablets, phones, vapes, and other battery-powered devices

These can all overheat, damaging the batteries and, in rare cases, creating a fire hazard.

a person holding a black and yellow water bottle — Photo by Keiron Crasktellanos on Unsplash

Aerosol cans

Things like hairspray or spray deodorant are another big no-no. The pressure builds inside the can, and it can burst when temperatures get high enough.

Diet Coke can — Photo by Quilia on Unsplash

Canned soda

Even a soda can is not immune. Leave it baking long enough and you could come back to a sticky explosion all over your interior.

The best rule is simple: If you brought it into the car, take it back out when you get where you’re going.

LOOK: The most extreme temperatures in the history of every state

Stacker consulted 2021 data from the NOAA's State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC) to illustrate the hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in each state. Each slide also reveals the all-time highest 24-hour precipitation record and all-time highest 24-hour snowfall.

Keep reading to find out individual state records in alphabetical order.

Gallery Credit: Anuradha Varanasi

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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