# Pre-emptive Pitting of the first moronic ass face to roast kid(s) alive in the car! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 6, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196 "2005-06-06T20:11:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/21 "2005-06-07T03:32:11Z")
All right, what if the kids were the ones who rolled up the windows in the first place? (I am speaking here of 8- and 11-year-olds, obviously, not infants.) I used to do this. Starting at about age 5.\* Then I would wait and listen for my mother to come back, and when I heard her footsteps I would roll the window down quick. A lot of times though I did get caught, and I got yelled at. Even when she didn’t actually catch me with the windows rolled up, she somehow knew. (Okay, maybe the heat made me slow. I couldn’t figure out how she could _tell._ ) One of her things was what people would think if they saw me in the car on a hot day with the windows rolled up, and another was that I could die. I thought, yeah, right, I’m gonna die from having the windows up . . . At the time I really thought she was just lying to me. \*I really liked the heat. I loved it, the hotter the better. I loved the feeling of sweating. And then it seemed so nice and cool when you got out, and I loved that, too. ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/22 "2005-06-07T16:16:54Z")
About the time you were posted the OP… [Toddler dies after being left in day-care van.](http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=17070) ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/23 "2005-06-07T16:59:19Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > Might I be permitted to modify the qualifications of your preemptive pitting to also include those who leave their dogs in the car with the windows rolled up? Last Sunday. Came back from a bike ride and there was a van next to mine with windows up and dog inside. I was just about to go in and call the cops when the family comes strolling out of the Rec center and lets the dog out for a few minutes while they get all the kiddies into the van. Everyone was in swim suits so I know they were inside at the pool for a while. No telling how long the dog was trapped in there. Oh, yeah - 85 degrees, 80+ percent humidity, no shade. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/24 "2005-06-07T17:28:28Z")
I’ll never forget my friend telling me about her pure panic when she accidentally locked her baby and her car keys in her car on a hot summer day. If her husband hadn’t gotten there in an incredibly short time with the spare keys, she was breaking the window and getting her baby out. And these people leave their kids and pets in there on purpose. Darwin awards candidates doesn’t even begin to cover it. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/25 "2005-06-07T20:04:34Z")
Man, I cannot understand whast would make a person beliebe any living thing, be it child, dog, cat, etc… would be perfectly fine in a locked car on a sumemr day. Oh, the windows were cracked open you say? Let me ask you this: How many times have you left them cracked open to vent the heat, and returned to find them still swealtering well into the triple digits? I’m pretty sure it’s all the time, cause it doesn’t do jack shit. If I ever see a child or animal locked in a car in summer, I will not hesitate a bit to call the police right then. I will not even wait a few minutes for the parent to show up. A few minutes can mean death. If, for whatever reason, I feel the child is in immediate danger (maybe I can see that it’s breathing really slow, or I know it will take police a long time to get ther) I will not hesitate to smash the window to save its life. And I will probably be sued by the car’s owner (cause that’s how they would identify themselves, owner of the car I smashed, not parent of the child I saved,) but I wouldn’t care. I really hope I never encoutner a situation where I feel I must smash a window, cause I probably would lose in court. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/26 "2005-06-07T20:14:08Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I’ll never forget my friend telling me about her pure panic when she accidentally locked her baby and her car keys in her car on a hot summer day. If her husband hadn’t gotten there in an incredibly short time with the spare keys, she was breaking the window and getting her baby out. I’d break a window to get a DOG out. I’d break your window to get someone else’s dog out. Much less a baby. You can replace windows. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/27 "2005-06-07T21:06:39Z")
A shopkeep and I broke a car window to get a golden retriever out. It was in the nasty hot days of summer in the late 90s, temperatures around 35oC + humidity… The dog was in obvious distress, shop owners immediately brought out a hose as we tried to cool him down. The dog lived but had some sequellae, the owners were fined, the dog was taken in by rescue. For my part, I never heard a peep about having helped to break their window. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/28 "2005-06-07T21:20:41Z")
I didn’t read all the posts so maybe someone mentioned something along these lines but when my wife worked at a tanning salon kids weren’t allowed on building (partially becuase some people go there to relax, not to listen to kids yelling and screaming). Anyways if someone would come in for a session with kids they were told that they would have to reschedule the session because kids weren’t allowed in the builiding unless of course they could quickly find something for the kids to do (ie husband come get the kids, have a friend take them for a drive for 20 minds etc etc etc…). Of course once in a while someone would go and put the kids in the car and leave them there during the course of the tanning session. My wife (as well as the rest of the staff) was instructed to call social services (they had the number on speed dial) when they saw that happening. Mind you, this wasn’t an absolute rule. They were supposed to use their judgement, For example if they left the kids in the car with the AC on and it’s in the low 70’s or with the windows cracked and there’s a good breeze that’s one thing, but of course you’d always have the person who would go and put the one year old in the car on a 90 degree day with the windows up. I’m sure they must have loved walking back out to the car with social services and the police standing there. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/29 "2005-06-07T21:38:48Z")
> [@Joey P](#): > > if they left the kids in the car with the AC on and it’s in the low 70’s or with the windows cracked and there’s a good breeze that’s one thing [Kids can die in hot cars even when the outside temperature is in the 70s](http://cf.consumerreports.org/tv/index.cfm?storydate=2005-05&storynumber=2&station=w123). As many people have said up-thread, cracking the windows doesn’t do much to keep a car from heating up. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/30 "2005-06-08T00:09:52Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > [Kids can die in hot cars even when the outside temperature is in the 70s](http://cf.consumerreports.org/tv/index.cfm?storydate=2005-05&storynumber=2&station=w123). As many people have said up-thread, cracking the windows doesn’t do much to keep a car from heating up. And air conditioning can fail. A cop up here had two police dogs die in his van when the air conditioning just happen to crap out. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/31 "2005-06-08T00:52:29Z")
Amen. _to OP_ ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/32 "2005-06-08T03:54:04Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’d break a window to get a DOG out. I’d break your window to get someone else’s dog out. Much less a baby. > > You can replace windows. I don’t understand the point of your post in relation to my earlier post. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/33 "2005-06-08T03:58:55Z")
This seems to happen here in Atlanta every damn year. It’s summer, and already starting to swelter. Some standout cases from the past three years or so: 1. Mother lost track of time while buying and smoking crack. Baby died. 2. Mother left infant in car, deliberately, during her first (and last) day on a new job. It was in a parking garage, but still hot enough to kill. 3. Saddest of all: a grandmother apparently had a mental lapse and truly forgot her infant grandchild was in the back seat; instead of taking the child to daycare for her daughter, she drove to work as usual, parked her car and spent the day in the office. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/34 "2005-06-08T04:09:54Z")
> [@jesuslynch](#): > > About the time you were posted the OP… > > [Toddler dies after being left in day-care van.](http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=17070) It took the parents almost **five hours** to report their son missing? WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/35 "2005-06-08T21:41:23Z")
> [@Atheist Princess](#): > > I wont post what I wanted to, too much cursing. So I’ll say this. This is the Pit. Let it out! ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/36 "2005-06-08T22:29:04Z")
> [@Silver Fire](#): > > It took the parents almost **five hours** to report their son missing? WTF? This story has a lot of WTF? The driver had trouble making a left-hand turn and so he just went on to the next stop without dropping off the first kid? WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/37 "2005-06-09T00:04:29Z")
And here’s a new twist. 3 children stuffed in the trunk of a car. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/07/AR2005060701902.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/07/AR2005060701902.html) > [@](#): > > “Did I do something wrong?” Lucas, 37, asked, according to the charging documents. > > “Yes, you did,” Tyler replied. > > “I don’t think so,” Lucas said. > > “What about the three children you have in the trunk of your car?” Tyler asked. I don’t know why people think that the Devil looks different than us… ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/38 "2005-06-09T00:49:48Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > And here’s a new twist. > > 3 children stuffed in the trunk of a car. > > [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/07/AR2005060701902.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/07/AR2005060701902.html) > > I don’t know why people think that the Devil looks different than us… We invented 3 point seatbelts for cars, we put airbags in cars, we install child booster seats in the back seat, we invent side airbags, **and this dumb fuck puts the kids in the trunk?** :rolleyes: ::: shakes head and walks away muttering::: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/39 "2005-06-09T03:31:09Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > And here’s a new twist. > > 3 children stuffed in the trunk of a car. :eek: That is seriously f’d up. Here’s a link to a .wmv of a [television news report](http://video.wjla.com/wjla/trunk0607.wmv) on that incident. In a sort of Bizarro-world fashion, it contains more information that the print article. (No video from the patrol camera, though – just the same still picture.) Additional information for people who don’t want to (or can’t) view the video, as best as I can remember: An off-duty cop saw her arrive at a video store and take the kids _out_ of the trunk. They went in, he called another cop (Tyler) in, and Officer Tyler saw her let the boys in the trunk again (and place the three-year-old in after them.) She is facing up to 15 years in prison for this stunt. (Probably three 5-year-maximum child endangerment charges, consecutive, to calculate that) I doubt she’ll be sentenced that harshly. I like the closing line in the video segment, though. Gee, ya think? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196/40 "2005-06-09T20:02:38Z")
There is a special place in my heart for the well-meaning but unfortunate parents who lose their children to heatstroke after leaving them in the car while they run into the store “just for a minute.” It is a very cold place. I think that parents who kill their children in this fashion should be sent up for murder one. I mean, my God, freaking everybody and their dog knows that it is possible for the temperature inside a car to reach triple digits (or at least “high enough to kill your kid”) in a fairly short period of time, there are multitudes of news stories every summer about some assgasket or another who baked the fruit of their loins in this manner, and yet… people still leave their kids shut up in cars while they do whatever it is that they deem more important than seeing to the safety and welfare of a small, helpless human being that they had a hand (or other bodily organ) in creating. I can think of one, and only one, reason that a person would leave a child unattended in a car. They have decided that they really don’t want the kid anymore, and this is a handy way to get rid of them. They can unburden themselves of an inconvenient mouth to feed, and play the role of bereaved parent. They probably figure that if there are criminal charges, they’ll get off with probation or a light sentence because, gosh, it was “an accident”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-emptive-pitting-of-the-first-moronic-ass-face-to-roast-kid-s-alive-in-the-car/307196.md?page=3)