CDC: 27 children left in cars died from heat in 2000-2001

The government reported Wednesday that dozens of children are killed each year when left unsupervised in or near family vehicles, whether they&#39;re left in a parked car on a hot day or backed over in the driveway. <br> <br> The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at least 78 American children died in accidents linked to parked cars between the summers of 2000 and 2001. More than a third died from heat exposure. <br> <br> The report comes less than a week after two small children died in Southfield, Michigan. Their mother reportedly left them in the car for three hours while she had her hair done. Now 25-year-old Tarajee Maynor of Detroit is charged with murder. <br> <br> With firecracker-hot temperatures forecast across the nation for the Fourth of July, the CDC also issued a reminder that heat can be deadly for adults as well as children. In fact, the report says heat exposure kills about 400 Americans each year.