In vehicles left in sunlight, researchers found the average temperature inside a car reached 116 degrees.
The surface temperatures of the dashboard, seats, and steering wheel reached 157, 123, and 127 degrees, respectively.
It can still be dangerous in a car parked in the shade.
Researchers found that cabin air temperature could still reach 100 degrees.
According to WTVC in Chattanooga, Audra Tatum was riding in a car with her husband in 2015 when she found out about the consequences of resting a foot on the dash first-hand.
"We were heading to my parents to pick up our two sons. A car came up to a stop sign and we were coming down the road and he pulled out in front of us ... We T-boned him," Tatum told WTVC. "When the airbag exploded, it pushed my foot up into my face."
Tatum wasn't wearing a seat belt.
Her nose, ankle, femur and shoulder were all broken.
Two years later, Tatum still hasn’t healed.
"It took my career from me. It took so much from me in life," she told WTVC. "I regret it every single day. Every hour of every day because every time I put pressure on my leg, I feel it."
Now, she’s warning others to ride the safe way.
“Do not sit like that. If you sit like that, you're asking for it,” she said.
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