Another CHild Left in Car Death

[Fritz]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...home-headlines

Janette Fennell, co-founder of Kids and Cars, a nonprofit child-safety group in Leawood, Kan., said there were 42 U.S. deaths from hyperthermia, or unusually high body temperature, related to children being trapped in vehicles. This is the nation's second this year, Fennell said.

Kids and Cars wants to see new cars equipped with a sensor that would alert parents if they leave a child in a car. The sensor would measure the weight on a back seat when the ignition is turned off.

Do 42 deaths a year warrant adding a device to cars?

[Ksyrup]

"Kids and Cars wants to see new cars equipped with a sensor that would alert parents if they leave a child in a car."


The whole idea of leaving your kid in a car is that you are not around. So, I fail to see how this would alert a parent.

If anything, it would alert others in the area, who would have to break in to the car to rescue the kid, which would likely result in them being sued for damage to the car...

Actually, what is notable about this death is that the temperature outside was only in the 70's, and warnings don't usually occur until it gets warmer, the idea being that it's not really an issue until it gets hot outside. This seems to contradict that notion.

I can see the unintended perks of having this system, though. I buy some chicken wings and steaks, put them in the back seat, stop at the bookstore, and when it gets too hot, the weight of the groceries on the back seat will alert me that my food is about to spoil.

[miami_fan]

I know this is a blatently emotional arguement but.....to the families of those 42 kids, I am sure the answer is YES. IMO I would ask if these 42 deaths warrant charging the driver of the vehicle with manslaughter or murder.

[corbes]

Are they accidentally leaving their children in the car? Or are they leaving their kids in the car while they go into a store?

[unsupported anecdotal evidence] Don't anyone throw trout at me for comparing kids to pets, but most animal car-related heatstrokes occur when animals are left in the car for "just a minute", and that sort of thing. [/unsupported anecdotal evidence]

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by corbes

Are they accidentally leaving their children in the car? Or are they leaving their kids in the car while they go into a store?

Of the stories I've heard over the past year, I think more often, the child has been intentionally left in the car. There was the one where the guy left the kid and thought the ex-wife was coming to pick it up, for instance. However, there seem to be a fair number of "going through the morning routine and forgetting to drop the kid off at daycare" stories as well, which is just inexplicable to me. I guess if the kid is asleep and you don't hear/see it, but...geez. Someone is in desperate need of coffee in the morning if that happens. Before taking a shower and fully waking up, I've "gone through the motions" in the morning, but that's beyond belief.

[JonInMiddleGA]

but that's beyond belief

Repeat after me ... never underestimate just how f'n stupid some people are.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by Fritz

Do 42 deaths a year warrant adding a device to cars?

Yes, call it the Anti-Bad Parent Laser. If mom or dad leaves the crumb muncher in the car while he/she runs into the local crack house for a fix, the laser blasts said bad parent in the ass.

[STK]

This happens(fatally) about once a year here in Tucson during the summer.

I doubt an alarm would work because the parent is usually too drunk/doped to realize what they are doing.

[Taur]

Originally Posted by corbes

Are they accidentally leaving their children in the car? Or are they leaving their kids in the car while they go into a store?

Exactly. These parents are leaving their kids in the car on purpose. Just going to run into the store real quick sweety, be right back

Later when their child has died and the police doing the investigation are explaining the difference between leaving their child in the car on purpose and leaving the child in the car by accident is about 20 years in prison they quickly remember they forgot about their child in the backseat.

Jail time for Parents that leave a child in the car whenever would be a better deterent. Leave a child unattended in a car and go to jail. Sounds simple doesn't it.

[ISiddiqui]

The sensor would measure the weight on a back seat when the ignition is turned off.

BAD idea! What if you put boxes of stuff on the backseat of your car? Every time you turned off the ignition, you'd have to have more your box of books, or clothes, or whatever somewhere else or hear beeping? What a crock!

[Blackadar]

Don't always believe that parents do this on purpose. Anyone who's been a parent knows how tired you can get and how hectic the day can go. Heck, my own wife backed up the car out of the garage with the back door open on morning, ripping it off the hinges. Needless to say, I wasn't amused.

[Fritz]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Heck, my own wife backed up the car out of the garage with the back door open on morning, ripping it off the hinges. Needless to say, I wasn't amused.

My buddies did shit like this all the time. Of course they had been drinking to the "you risk death level" .....

[GrantDawg]

I've made it about 100 feet before remembering a sleeping child in the car. I can easily see how it happens (espicially for someone like me who rarely takes a baby anywhere alone). I have a very one-track mind and if I'm thinking about something, bombs can be going off around me.

[Fritz]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I've made it about 100 feet before remembering a sleeping child in the car. I can easily see how it happens (espicially for someone like me who rarely takes a baby anywhere alone). I have a very one-track mind and if I'm thinking about something, bombs can be going off around me.

What kind of father would leave his kid where bombs are going off?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Fritz

What kind of father would leave his kid where bombs are going off?

Well, I don't want to be over-protective.

[Tekneek]

To these people, the kids are no more important than a dog, or cat. They don't think of their children as human beings. Everytime I read a story about someone doing this, they trot out some family/neighbors who talk about how wonderful the person is. I'm sorry. I don't see how a "good person" cooks the kid in the car. 2 + 2 does not equal 5, no matter how many times you say it. I take my son out before I remove anything else.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Fritz

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...home-headlines




Do 42 deaths a year warrant adding a device to cars?

Man, this kind of shit happens all the time in Hampton Roads. I'm glad that most of the time that the kids get found before they die. Dying in a car has gotta suck.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by stevew

Man, this kind of shit happens all the time in Hampton Roads. I'm glad that most of the time that the kids get found before they die. Dying in a car has gotta suck.

Yep, especially for the ones strapped in a children's carseat. They cry out over and over until they finally lose conciousness. Then they slowly expire. No punishment is severe enough for the jerks who kill children this way. The kid doesn't have any kind of chance. People get off on this all the time though. I'm not sure I understand why it is not murder when you do that to another human being who cannot help themselves.

[wig]

Sometimes it really is an accident.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by wig

Sometimes it really is an accident.

Thats just what your parents told you when you and Nifty got locked in the car for 5 hours.

[wig]

I got left at a car dealership for a day once when I was 1.

[Primal]

If you can't leave the kids in the car what do you do with them when you go to the horse track?

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by wig

Sometimes it really is an accident.

How does someone accidentally leave a kid in a car long enough to kill them?

[wig]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

How does someone accidentally leave a kid in a car long enough to kill them?

I'm not saying it's right, but it happens. Most of the time, the parents aren't trying to kill their kids. They just make a bad decision.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

How does someone accidentally leave a kid in a car long enough to kill them?

Well, for instance, a couple years ago this dude had his kid in his car, and he left him in the car while he ran into his cousins house and played PS2 for something like 18 hours.

Thats an accident of course. PS2 should always come first.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by wig

I'm not saying it's right, but it happens. Most of the time, the parents aren't trying to kill their kids. They just make a bad decision.

Oh, well, now that you put it that way. It doesn't sound nearly as bad anymore. The lack of a connection you must have with your child to accidentally leave them in a car is one that I don't understand. Can you explain how that comes about?

[wig]

A "lack of connection", as you put it, is not the same as murder. (as you earlier stated this should be treated as)

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by wig

A "lack of connection", as you put it, is not the same as murder. (as you earlier stated this should be treated as)

So, anytime someone is completely dependent on you for their care, and you then, with that responsibility, leave them in the car to die... what would you call it? Accidental death? Do you even think it is a criminal act?

[wig]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

So, anytime someone is completely dependent on you for their care, and you then, with that responsibility, leave them in the car to die... what would you call it? Accidental death? Do you even think it is a criminal act?

Accidental death, if it's an accident.

Criminal act, if it wasn't an accident.

Seriously, I'm starting to get the impression from you that you're just using knee-jerk logic here. Are you really saying that any time a child dies from being locked in a car, the parents should be charged with murder?

[Craptacular]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

However, there seem to be a fair number of "going through the morning routine and forgetting to drop the kid off at daycare" stories as well, which is just inexplicable to me. I guess if the kid is asleep and you don't hear/see it, but...geez. Someone is in desperate need of coffee in the morning if that happens. Before taking a shower and fully waking up, I've "gone through the motions" in the morning, but that's beyond belief.

This happened in Madison last year. Supposedly, the mother was getting no sleep because they had to put her disabled son in an institution the day before. She forgot to drop off her daughter at day care on the way to work and left her in the car all day. The little girl suffocated. The mother was not charged.

The same "Kids and Cars" organization had a couple of more "sensible" tips listed in the local paper. One was to keep a teddy bear in the child seat when it would otherwise be empty. When you put the child in the seat, put the teddy bear in the front passenger seat where it will catch your attention. Another suggestion was to put something important (as if your kid was not important enough) in the back seat (like a purse or your work bag), so you have another reason to either look in the back seat or open the rear passenger door when you get to your destination.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by wig

Seriously, I'm starting to get the impression from you that you're just using knee-jerk logic here. Are you really saying that any time a child dies from being locked in a car, the parents should be charged with murder?

Forgetting to take the kid out is not an accident. Locking them in there while you go do something else is no accident. Frankly, I can't see how you can strap a child into a carseat and accidentally leave them in the car. Notice, I am specifically talking about kids that you have to strap in and have no power to remove themselves from the carseat. Leaving them in the car while you exit the vehicle to go do something else is not an accident. It's not knee-jerk. It's just a fact. Should you have to want the kid to die for it to be a crime? If you're just a selfish irresponsible jerk, it's ok to kill the kids on a hot day in the car? Maybe you should give it a shot. These children suffer terribly before it finally kills them. Is it that hard to understand how that could be an unforgivable act?

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by wig

Accidental death, if it's an accident.

Criminal act, if it wasn't an accident.

Seriously, I'm starting to get the impression from you that you're just using knee-jerk logic here. Are you really saying that any time a child dies from being locked in a car, the parents should be charged with murder?

If a human being is completely under your care, it should be treated as something more serious than an accidental fender bender. It's like if a nurse accidentally forgot to give their patient medicine for a long enough time period to cause death. That's criminal negligence.

I really can't understand forgetting that your child is in the car. It takes enough extra effort just to get the child in the car, I can't see how that can suddenly slip your mind when you get out.

[Tekneek]

Originally Posted by Craptacular

This happened in Madison last year. Supposedly, the mother was getting no sleep because they had to put her disabled son in an institution the day before. She forgot to drop off her daughter at day care on the way to work and left her in the car all day. The little girl suffocated. The mother was not charged.

I suppose my problem is my inability to understand how anything in the world could make you forget that a child of yours is in the car with you. Even if my son is asleep, even if I am running late, even if it is 5 AM and still dark outside, I look at him in the mirror once every 5 minutes minimum. Maybe I've come home from the grocery and the car is full of groceries and it would be more convenient to take those in first, but I always get my son out first. I suppose some people just have a different set of priorities for themselves. I could never go to the trouble of strapping my son into the seat and then forget that I had done it. Not even in weeks where I have worked 70 - 80 hours on the job, and had no more than 2 to 3 hours of sleep a night, do I let anything happen to him or forget that he is depending on me to take care of him.

I *want* to understand how someone can innocently leave their child to die in the car, but it just does not make any sense to me at all.

[EagleFan]

Well said Tekneek.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

I *want* to understand how someone can innocently leave their child to die in the car, but it just does not make any sense to me at all.

It just boils down to stupid people having children. Some people are barely able to take care of themselves, and when you meet them you're amazed they make it through a day. Add a child into that equation and things like this happen.

It's unfortunate, but needless child deaths will always occur.