# Kid Trapped in Car on Hot Day **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 27, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476 "2011-05-27T19:41:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/101 "2011-06-03T23:31:29Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Breaking a window can cause shards of glass to fly around. This could blind a child, cut him badly, or the shards could even fly into his mouth, he could swallow them, and then die of internal bleeding. **No, it won’t.** As others have said, the glass used in car windows is _safety glass_. You can break it, and it will shatter, but it will shatter into small rounded pieces. Sure, if you stepped on it in bare feet, or fell on it, you could get a minor cut, but it wouldn’t be a serious laceration. It will not break into dangerous shards. I’d break a window not near the child, just to be on the safe side, but there won’t be shards of pointy glass flying around. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/102 "2011-06-03T23:39:33Z")
> [@YoSaffBridge](#): > > **No, it won’t.** As others have said, the glass used in car windows is _safety glass_. You can break it, and it will shatter, but it will shatter into small rounded pieces. Sure, if you stepped on it in bare feet, or fell on it, you could get a minor cut, but it wouldn’t be a serious laceration. It will not break into dangerous shards. > I’d break a window not near the child, just to be on the safe side, but there won’t be shards of pointy glass flying around. Then why not break the window nearest the child? You’ve stated that there is no danger to be safe from. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/103 "2011-06-03T23:50:47Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Then why not break the window nearest the child? You’ve stated that there is no danger to be safe from. Because presumably in such a situation you’d be trying to save a child’s life, and not prove a point to someone being obtuse on the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/104 "2011-06-03T23:51:54Z")
I’d break a window further from the child (a front seat window most likely, assuming the baby is in the back), so he doesn’t get glass on him, just in case he tried to pick some of it up. Plus, it’s usually sticky, and would get trapped in the fold of his clothes. It’s [tempered glass.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempered_glass) Breaking a car window is not as dangerous as some of you are making it out to be. Have you ever seen footage on the news about a car accident where they cut the roof off a car? You know how the front windshield is usually all in one piece? It might be shattered, but it holds together. Windshield glass is [laminated glass.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminated_glass) It’s two panes of glass with a sheet of polyvinyl butyral sandwiched in between. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/105 "2011-06-04T02:09:32Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Then why not break the window nearest the child? You’ve stated that there is no danger to be safe from. In case the hammer slips out of your hand. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/106 "2011-06-04T03:11:48Z")
I woudl first try the doors, but yeah, break in. I don’t think that’s the best answer, the best answer is to call 911 with one hand while you grab the tire iron out of your trunk wiht the other, but that’s not one of the options. I would definitely be yelling for somebody to call an ambulance, but I’d get the baby out of there, and pour some water over him/her as quickly as possible. I once called 911 for an elderly man who ahd fallen asleep in the car while waiting for his wife to finish her shopping. It was a very hot sunny day, an they were mroe than 10 minutes getting there. I have often looked back and wondered what damage I did by waiting. And since I was waiting, everyone else who came along waited too, telling each other that I’d already called the rescue squad. He left in an ambulance and I’ve always wondered if I killed him, or let him get brain damage, by waiting. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/107 "2011-06-04T13:31:30Z")
Of the available answers, only breaking open the window does not entail minutes of additional baking for the baby, who appears to be in urgent trouble on the basis of the limited information. I can’t imagine calling 911 or going into the store without getting the car open. Even if I called 911 first, I’d be breaking into the car before they arrive, making the 911 call irrelevant in the immediate timeframe. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/108 "2011-06-04T16:33:41Z")
And yet another story from the Times-Picayune…this one ended better than the last. A window was broken, and the child was saved. [http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/06/city\_workers\_break\_car\_window.html#incart\_mce](http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/06/city_workers_break_car_window.html#incart_mce) ETA: The temperature here has been at or close to 100 every day this week. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/109 "2011-06-04T16:40:47Z")
I voted “Other” - I’d break the window and then dial 911. UT ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/110 "2011-06-04T22:51:50Z")
I almost called the cops today on a dog locked in a car-and I would have if I had known that the Publix in question was completely staffed by kids and I was wasting valuable time talking to them about it. In any event the owner came along and drove off while I was in the store vainly trying to find someone who had any authority. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/111 "2011-06-04T23:19:15Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Because presumably in such a situation you’d be trying to save a child’s life, and not prove a point to someone being obtuse on the Internet. Ms., you cracks me up everytime. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/112 "2011-06-04T23:54:59Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > Call 911 first, pound on the window to see if the baby wakes up and then go from there. Common sense would be to attempt to wake the kid up first, but anyone who is clueless enough to leave a baby alone in a hot car is going to be difficult to deal with, and I’d rather have the police quickly on the way. > > This is a different situation, but when I was student, working night security at my university, I found a woman seemingly asleep in the driver’s seat of a car parked at the bookstore with the motor running. I knocked on the window and got no response. I shined my big ass flashlight directly on her eyes but nothing, so I called dispatch and the police were there within seconds. > > The officer tried to open both doors with a jimmy, gave up and had gone back for this nightstick to break the window, when I checked again and he had actually gotten one of the doors unlocked, but hadn’t realized it. > > When we pulled the lady out of the car, the remainder of the container of sleeping pills spilled out. She was barely breathing but the paramedics were able to save her, and the ambulance got there ASAP. > > She had her husband’s ID in her hand. He was a manager at the bookstore, and apparently they were just separated. He was scheduled to open the store that morning. She was attempting to kill herself, and he would have been the person to find her. She had left her kids asleep at home.☹ > > I got a letter of commendation for saving her life, but of course you never hear if they got the kind of help she needed. ☹ I guess she was at least more likely to get help when she was alive than dead. You did bloody well. > [@elbows](#): > > Well, before doing anything else, I’d knock on the window to see if the child responded. > > Whether she did or not, would determine my next move. Awake, go into the store, call 911, get help. No response, more likely to break a window NOW. > > I think this would actually be what most everyone would do first, (a freaking no brainer, in fact!), and yet, somehow it’s not even on the damn list of poll choices. Finding the poll so grievously flawed, I did not vote. Same here. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What difference does it make if the baby responds or not? Just because it responds doesn’t mean it’s not suffering or not in immediate danger. The firts thing to do, no matter what, is to get the baby out of danger. It’s basically slow cooking in an oven. Fucking get it out of there. Because it tells you if the child has been left alone too long to be safe. It could be that the mother has just got out to puke on the sidewalk due to her next pregnancy and really will be right back. If the child doesn’t respond then you call 911 while trying to break the window, but if the child does, then you have time to try to find the parent, then do the above. I’d have difficulty breaking the window with anything I usually have to hand, so breaking the window is more of a theoretical - finding a handy brick, a passerby with a tyre iron, something like that. None of those are very quick; they’re still feasible, but odds on either the parent would come back or emergency services would arrive before I managed to break the window. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/113 "2011-06-05T18:27:53Z")
I just want to get this straight. If I think I see a baby locked in a car alone, I should start smashing windows right? I shouldn’t bother to check if the doors are actually locked. I shouldn’t check to see if the baby’s mother isn’t kneeling down on the other side of the car to retrieve the keys she dropped. I shouldn’t even look closely to see if it’s just a doll stuck in the car seat by the child who is in the store with her parent. I shouldn’t call 911. I shouldn’t check to see if the child is alert and responsive. And even though I could smash a window, and it still won’t come out easily, everybody should try that even though most people won’t be able to break the window or remove it at all (oh wait, I forgot you can just go back to your car to get a tire iron which takes no time at all, and certainly can’t be done while calling 911). I just want to make sure I understand this, because I’m just going to start smashing car windows at random because of the possibility that there is child trapped in the car. And I won’t worry about suffering any consequences for my actions because ‘I saw it on the Internet’, an absolute defense for any crime. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/114 "2011-06-05T20:33:03Z")
Dude, you are taking this thread _really_ personally. It’s ok for someone to disagree with you about the optimal way to handle an extremely unlikely hypothetical situation on the Internet, seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/115 "2011-06-05T20:43:11Z")
ISTR a news article 2-3 years ago where police broke into a locked vehicle on a hot day to rescue an infant. Turns out it was a realistic doll. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/116 "2011-06-05T21:33:48Z")
No one here has suggested you go start smashing windows indiscriminately. We’ve just pointed out that breaking a window to get to a child isn’t going to be quite the bloodfest you made it out to be. Car window glass can be broken without the danger of pointed shards of glass lacerating anyone inside. That’s it. I think calling 911 first would be the best idea. If they tell you to break the window, then go for it. If it’s a very hot day, and there’s no parent around, and the child in question seems lethargic or unresponsive, then I’d probably call 911 and tell them what I was going to do, and then break it. ---
**Author:** ![IMfez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f07891/32.png) [@IMfez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IMfez)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/117 "2011-06-05T22:43:20Z")
As someone who’s never had kids I’m curious: is it ok to leave the windows 2-4" open on a hot day (90-10F) for a young child? Or is this not even a good idea? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/118 "2011-06-05T23:41:12Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I just want to get this straight. If I think I see a baby locked in a car alone, I should start smashing windows right? I shouldn’t bother to check if the doors are actually locked. I shouldn’t check to see if the baby’s mother isn’t kneeling down on the other side of the car to retrieve the keys she dropped. I shouldn’t even look closely to see if it’s just a doll stuck in the car seat by the child who is in the store with her parent. I shouldn’t call 911. I shouldn’t check to see if the child is alert and responsive. And even though I could smash a window, and it still won’t come out easily, everybody should try that even though most people won’t be able to break the window or remove it at all (oh wait, I forgot you can just go back to your car to get a tire iron which takes no time at all, and certainly can’t be done while calling 911). > > I just want to make sure I understand this, because I’m just going to start smashing car windows at random because of the possibility that there is child trapped in the car. And I won’t worry about suffering any consequences for my actions because ‘I saw it on the Internet’, an absolute defense for any crime. You are free to standby and call 911 while I get my hammer. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/119 "2011-06-06T00:31:31Z")
> [@IMfez](#): > > As someone who’s never had kids I’m curious: is it ok to leave the windows 2-4" open on a hot day (90-10F) for a young child? Or is this not even a good idea? No. Try sitting in a car for 15 minutes (time it!) under those circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476/120 "2011-06-06T00:55:23Z")
> [@IMfez](#): > > As someone who’s never had kids I’m curious: is it ok to leave the windows 2-4" open on a hot day (90-10F) for a young child? Or is this not even a good idea? That’s not a good idea for any living thing. I don’t like to sit in my car _under the carport_ on a hot day with the windows only that far down. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kid-trapped-in-car-on-hot-day/583476.md?page=7)