# Child in a hot car—timeline **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-in-a-hot-car-timeline/660165 "2013-06-05T00:03:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-in-a-hot-car-timeline/660165/81 "2013-06-20T17:11:57Z")
I will change the identities to protect feelings, but once I was present at an especially stupid example of these “child locked in a hot car” scenarios. I was traveling with a family in their pricey SUV through a national park. The husband and I wanted to walk down to a particular park feature, so we left the wife with the vehicle and the baby. However, she _insisted_ on having _both sets of keys_ – his and hers – despite at least two reminders that it was safer not to have them both with one person. Her reasoning was something about wanting to leave one set in the ignition while holding another set on her person. Bear in mind the menfolk wold only be 400 feet away – well within earshot. She could have shouted for a second set of keys if need be, but no, she had to have them so she could set them on the seat while rummaging through baggage. Somehow she prevailed in the argument, and of course immediately managed to lock both sets of keys in the vehicle with the baby. When I say immediately, I mean, we heard her scream before even having walked the 400 feet. Naturally we came running back to find the baby locked in the SUV. At least the engine was running, so we thought we had some time. We began trying to figure out how to get a door open. “YOU HAVE TO SAVE MY BABY!” she screamed. “Well, right now we’re trying to save a car window,” I told her. “At the first sign of distress in the _baby_, we will smash a window. But the race right now is to save the _car window_ if we can.” I went up a hill a ways and spotted a park ranger. He was being chatted up by some woman in a period costume. “Excuse me,” I called, running up, “but we need help.” The lady pointedly repositioned herself between me and the park ranger to emphasize that my interruption of her flirtation was unwelcome. But I held a trump card. “THERE’S A BABY TRAPPED IN A CAR!” I yelled, and the ranger instantly took off running with me, leaving the costumed coquette pouting. He called another ranger, and together they were able to jimmy the door open after about 15 minutes – to discover, to everyone’s horror, that the mother had somehow left the _engine_ running, but _intentionally turned off the air conditioning_, and then forgotten she had done so (presumably due to panic). The baby was fine although somewhat sweaty; the SUV was rather warm and stuffy. The SUV window was fine, I want to reassure all distressed readers. Moral of the story: if someone notices a child left in a hot car in time, the risk is more to the car windows than the child. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-in-a-hot-car-timeline/660165/82 "2013-06-20T17:33:15Z")
If you didn’t bitchslap the wife after all that, you’re a better man than I, Gunga **Sailboat**. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-in-a-hot-car-timeline/660165/83 "2013-06-20T18:15:41Z")
SD thread: [Can you fry an egg on a concrete sidewalk?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=81026) The last poster, **bughunter** , wrote that he saw an egg _baked_ in a hot car. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-in-a-hot-car-timeline/660165/84 "2013-06-20T19:04:17Z")
I cooked a spider in my car once. I had been going through a fast food drive through when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a huge spider crawl in through the window behind me. It skittered away too fast and I couldn’t find it, even after I got out, screaming in a girly spider panic. :: shudder :: Luckily, I work with science teachers, so I made a beeline for them when I got back to work. We found a couple websites that told us no spider could survive 140º. So I made sure that car was all sealed up and parked in the hot Florida sun for the afternoon. Never saw that spider again. ---
**Author:** ![whc.03grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@whc.03grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whc.03grady)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-in-a-hot-car-timeline/660165/85 "2013-06-20T19:31:42Z")
> [@Emmy2635](#): > > Last summer, we locked our 2 year old daughter in the car with the keys. It was a sunny day, about 80 degrees and the car was already hot from sitting in the sun for 30 minutes or so. > > We called mall security first. They refused to help us. We called 911 next. An officer showed up and refused to help us. He said he couldn’t break open the doors and couldn’t break the window because of “liability”. We had nothing to break the windows with and we were absolutely panicking (and I was 9 months pregnant). He called a superior officer to see what to do next. Waited another 5-10 min for him to come. He insisted we call a tow company to break into the door. Waited another 5 minutes for the tow company, who popped it open in 10 seconds. > > We were absolutely astonished that no one would help us. Everyone kept telling us to call AAA because they couldn’t risk the liability. That’s a lot of calling, when you coulda been doing some breaking. There’s nothing in a mall parking lot to break a window with? Rocks, trash on the side of the road, nothing? I’m thinking that once panic set in (after the cop refused to do it) I could pretty easily hop on top of the car and kick the window in myself. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-in-a-hot-car-timeline/660165/86 "2013-06-20T21:47:17Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > I was traveling with a family in their pricey SUV through a national park. What park was this? Slim jims have always been standard equipment for NPS cruisers. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-in-a-hot-car-timeline/660165/87 "2013-06-21T07:12:45Z")
You know, the ease with which a car door can be unlocked without a key makes me wonder what’s the point of locking the door in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-in-a-hot-car-timeline/660165/88 "2013-06-21T15:51:29Z")
In the olden times, say, before 1990 or so, most cars were easy to get in to with a simple slim jim. It’s just the nature of the mechanism. With the growing numbers of power windows and power door locks it became more difficult on some makes. Then TPTB decided to block access to the mechanism with bars and blocks, so locksmiths had to adjust. Today’s [lockout set](http://www.brassknucklescompany.com/CRE/images/small/lockout.jpg) can contain wedges, airbags, [pushrods, angled rods](http://bcswholesale.com/suprememasterlockouttoolkit.aspx), and more. They’ll come with a flipbook containing instructions for each make and model. Or, there’s these lazy bastards who just make [1 big stick](http://www.benspaintsupply.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/BigEasy-Kit-w-case-hirez.jpg) for reaching in an pushing a button. This ain’t your dad’s Buick anymore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-in-a-hot-car-timeline/660165.md?page=4)