Decades ago, when I was a small child, car A/Cs were not standard equipment. The cars that did have A/C suffered horribly in gas mileage (not that we were too concerned, but still, a buck is a buck).
So, many people drove around with the windows down anyways. Now, though, even the cheapest entry level new car seems to have A/C as a standard item. And the cars are more fuel efficient, even when running A/C.
Maybe that helps to explain the current prevelance of such occurances today. We tend to drive around with our windows up, whereas we kept our windows down (mostly) when I was a lad (1960s)
Oh yes, because you should leave the kid in the car for the 5-10 minutes (or however long it takes) until the cops arrive. I’m sorry but to that, I say “Fuck that”.
Sure, I respect people’s property and wouldn’t want somebody smashing my window BUT the sanctity of life is just a tad more important. I hope I’m never in the situation but if I am, I’m smashing that window first (of course, if the kid can open the door/window for me, all the better) and then calling the cops. The car owner will see me in court before getting a penny out of me and I seriously doubt and judge/jury would find in their favor.
You could always say, “There’s a baby in the car, send the cops, I’m going to smash the window and get him out.” I doubt the 911 operator would argue with that.
Maybe more people make sure to roll their windows up these days?
If the kid’s in the car you can leave the windows down. The temp of th ecar w/ all the windows down shouldn’t be that different than the outside temp. Plus, a breeze is possible.
I can remember 3 times I nearly made it to work without stopping by daycare first. I once got nearly 5 feet away from the car in a grocery store parking lot before my brain kicked in (that scared the heck out of me). Riley had colick. Some nights I had little more than 2 hours sleep. Does anyone remember that fog of the first couple months?
Am I the only one who sees these cases with a slight “there but the grace go I” feeling? Sure, I know I’d never forget him in the car. I’m sure of it. I’m positive. It would never, ever, ever happen. I am a far better parent than that.
I suspect many of the parents who have done it thought exactly that.
Agreed - but I believe in most cases, firefighter/paramedics would be dispatched, not police. My SO’s a fireman, and they do get calls occasionally from hysterical parents who accidentally locked their keys and small children in the car.
I think these cases are just heartbreaking - the deaths are so preventable!! Makes you wonder what the average I.Q. really is out there.
While not related to the story, if I ever locked my keys and child in my car, the first thing I would do is smash the window. Sure, I might be out a couple of hundred bucks but I would think that every second it took the firefighters/paramedics to arrive would feel like days.
I think there’s a qualitative difference between spacing off and driving by the day care and actually walking away and forgetting that the kid is in the car. You said, yourself, that even at your most forgetful (walking a few feet away) your brain has always kicked in before any damage is done, I think that’s the norm.
I also wouldn’t want it to be any kind of a legal defense because I don’t want to open the door for a kill-your-kid-for-free strategy. It would take a special kind of sicko, yes, but we all know those sickos exist. Trying to prove in court whether somebody actually forgot or not would be next to impossible and would pettifog the issue. I don’t care if they really forgot. Not forgetting your kid in the car is part of being a parent. If a person can’t rely on his/her memory for something like that he/she shouldn’t be trusted with a child anyway.
“Why aren’t car manufacturers required to install motion detectors that automatically roll down the windows when they detect something moving inside the car while it’s parked?”
I wouldn’t think this was a bad idea if the motion detector could be disabled in some way. If I turn off my car in a long line at the bank or sit outside a store waiting for a someone else to run in, I wouldn’t want my windows rolling down automatically. Ditto for my brother and his dog.
The problem is that people who need it wouldn’t use it.
And, they couldn’t afford it - let’s face it, most of the parents/babysitters responsible for the car tragedies are poor and uneducated. The wealthy parents who don’t deserve to be parents are the ones that let their two-year olds wander into the family pool and drown.
It’s all the same shit. Parenting is a massive responsibility that cannot be taken lightly.
In some parts of the country, leaving a small child in the car even with the windows rolled down would still be very dangerous. Sure the temperature in the car might not make it to 140 degrees but ninety degree weather (and 100+ heat index) can also kill a child.
I was talking to my wife last night about the depressing stories I find here (like the grandmother that allowed her 15-year old granddaughter to be raped by her crack dealer, etal) and she said “You know, the law should be mandated abortion UNLESS you can prove you will be a good and responsible parent.” While she was being sarcastic, it would probably end alot of these tragedies.
I think that the laws need to be changed. Have you ever noticed the discrepancy between sentencing for crimes committed against one’s own children versus those committed against a stranger?
A parent can willfully kill their child and spend much less time in jail than if they killed a random person.
Children are forced to depend on their parents/guardians. They are defenseless. They deserve better protection.
When leaving the hospital after my daughter was born, I had a moment of shock (likely induced by a combination of blood loss, green jello, and sleep deprivation). I couldn’t believe that they would allow my husband and I to just take this helpless baby and leave. They didn’t know if I would do a good job. What if I was a baby-shaker? What if I fed her the wrong stuff? How could they assume I wouldn’t harm her?
I think states need to invest in more education programs for new parents. They’ve spent a lot of time emphasizing putting kids to sleep on their backs, they need to remind parents about other common dangers too.
Question: Is this type of death more common for children of lower income families? In other words, is it a lack of education?