Keep these things at home

It can become very easy to let your car become a storage space. It’s accessible, only you can get into it (legally, anyway), and there’s plenty of space. And while it’s perfectly okay to keep some things there, and there are even many things you should store in your car, there are plenty of other items that really shouldn’t be there for a prolonged amount of time. And, of course, there are even some other things (ahem, living things) that you shouldn’t leave in your car even when you’re just leaving it for a short stretch of time. Here are the top 15 things you shouldn’t leave in your vehicle.
Young children

Even if you don’t expect an errand to take more than a few minutes, leaving children alone in the car on a hot day puts their safety at risk. Every year, children die from heatstroke in hot cars. Even if the window is cracked, the temperature inside the car can quickly spike almost within ten minutes, according to the CDC. Check your local laws – in some jurisdictions, it’s illegal to leave young children alone, even if it isn’t sweltering outside.
Pets

Dogs and cats are also at risk in hot summertime temps. Hundreds of pets die every year from overheating in vehicles. After just one hour, car temperatures can reach 7.2°C higher than the climate outside, and even a shaded parking spot won’t keep the temperatures much cooler.