3 yr old left in car .....are you freakin kidding me?!

[visionsfantastic]

No one really .school is behind my house, . We walk or get trains if its further afield , if we go in a car it's for a day trip or something with my aunties and uncles ..

 

[DopeyDame]

This afternoon I noticed in this month's local parenting/family magazine a half-page ad reminding people about the danger of hyperthermia for children, with the catch phrase "LOOK BEFORE YOU LOCK" and instructing parents to walk around the car and look at all the seats every single time they get out of the car.

Maybe (hopefully) this will be the next major child safety campaign.

 

[indimom]

I think the thing I find toughest about these cases is that there is such a simple solution - look into the car seats each and every time you leave the car. If breaks in routine contribute to these deaths, then make this an unchanging part of your routine. I don't think it is too hard to make that into a habit, whether you use the purse idea or whatever.

In many other accidental death/injury cases, there are other factors, including the child themselves. Maybe before they could never climb so high, but this time they did and hurt themselves. Maybe you latched the gate to the pool, but the latch malfunctions and a kid slips through, you put the child proof cap back on the medicine, but the threads went crooked and your kid got the lid off etc. etc.

Avoiding this type of death is literally as simple as checking the backseat each time.

This afternoon I noticed in this month's local parenting/family magazine a half-page ad reminding people about the danger of hyperthermia for children, with the catch phrase "LOOK BEFORE YOU LOCK" and instructing parents to walk around the car and look at all the seats every single time they get out of the car.

Maybe (hopefully) this will be the next major child safety campaign.

This sort of campaign is exactly what is needed. (Much more than prosecuting parents, grandparents or bus drivers who never intended to harm anyone.)

Parents... heck, everyone (because this happens to people other than parents)... needs to make it part of their routine to check their vehicle before they leave it. Every time, with or without the kids, so that they never fail in the routine. That would probably be the biggest step toward eliminating these tragedies.

DH and I were talking about this thread yesterday, and that's the conclusion we came to. When our daughter was in kindergarten, the kids made "Buckle Up" hangers for the rear view mirror. We put ours in the car (because she was so proud of it) and that's really what helped me to remember to buckle up. I was very inconsistent about my own seatbelt prior to that.

I think you could do something similar to train drivers to check the car every time you exit. It only takes a second or two to glance through the entire vehicle, and problem solved.

"Look before you lock" sounds like a good catchphrase. Very simple. I hope it catches on.

 

[Nancyg56]

No one really .school is behind my house, . We walk or get trains if its further afield , if we go in a car it's for a day trip or something with my aunties and uncles ..

I think that your routine has a lot to do with how you feel about what happened. People tend to fall into daily routine. I have missed exits on the interstate when my car "drove itself" to work instead of a store that I generally did not go to. Things like that. I think that if we rule out the simply irresponsible parents and caregivers, the accidents like this one we started discussing occur because of stresses that are debilitating or drastic changes in one parents routine. It still does not change the fact that a child died, but I think that the circumstances change how we judge those people. For me, at least, there is a difference between a terrible anomaly and pure negligence.

 

[HSXJedi]

Ironically, this means the parents have another funeral to attend. Maybe they'll just bring their remaining two kids to this one...

I still wish they were charged with something. Had their forgotten child lived they likely would have been charged with negligence, but suddenly they are free to go because the child died... Something is terribly wrong with our system.

 

[wvjules]

Ironically, this means the parents have another funeral to attend. Maybe they'll just bring their remaining two kids to this one...

I still wish they were charged with something. Had their forgotten child lived they likely would have been charged with negligence, but suddenly they are free to go because the child died... Something is terribly wrong with our system.

What do you base that assumption on?

 

[HSXJedi]

What do you base that assumption on?

Previous situations where people have been charged with child neglect.

Police treat each situation differently. Sometimes people are charged and sometimes they are not (regardless of whether their forgotten child survived or not).

This is a huge topic here in Arizona where it happens much more frequently and with higher temperatures than most other places.

 

[sam_gordon]

Ironically, this means the parents have another funeral to attend. Maybe they'll just bring their remaining two kids to this one...

I still wish they were charged with something. Had their forgotten child lived they likely would have been charged with negligence, but suddenly they are free to go because the child died... Something is terribly wrong with our system.

Why? What would that accomplish?

 

[wvjules]

Previous situations where people have been charged with child neglect.

Police treat each situation differently. Sometimes people are charged and sometimes they are not (regardless of whether their forgotten child survived or not).

This is a huge topic here in Arizona where it happens much more frequently and with higher temperatures than most other places.

Exactly, each situation is treated differently. That doesn't mean that they "most likely" would have been charged with neglect had the child lived.

 

[HSXJedi]

Why? What would that accomplish?

They were responsible for their child. They failed to protect their child. Someone should be held responsible - even if just fines or probation.

Strangely enough - if there were actual consequences for your actions in cases like this maybe it would be a deterrent.

Just my opinion. Sick of seeing this happen over and over and over.

 

[wvjules]

They were responsible for their child. They failed to protect their child. Someone should be held responsible - even if just fines or probation.

Strangely enough - if there were actual consequences for your actions in cases like this maybe it would be a deterrent.

Just my opinion. Sick of seeing this happen over and over and over.

You mean besides losing a child? You think fines would prevent this type of accident? "Hmm, if my child dies in a hot car I'll get a fine...better be extra viligiant now." Really????

 

[sam_gordon]

They were responsible for their child. They failed to protect their child. Someone should be held responsible - even if just fines or probation.

Strangely enough - if there were actual consequences for your actions in cases like this maybe it would be a deterrent.

Just my opinion. Sick of seeing this happen over and over and over.

So there are no "actual" consequences to knowing you're responsible for a child's death?

And I agree with wvjules... I don't think adding a fine, probation, or even a prison term would save a single child.

 

[HSXJedi]

You mean besides losing a child? You think fines would prevent this type of accident? "Hmm, if my child dies in a hot car I'll get a fine...better be extra vigilant now." Really????

Anything to get people thinking about the consequences of their actions. Maybe they'd take parenting a little more serious.

Is the advice of placing your purse or some other possession with your kid any better? What happens when a mom forgets both her purse and her kid?

Something needs to be done to prevent these incidents.

Awareness, punishment, sensors in newer vehicles - I am for anything that helps.

We have kids left in hot cars, kids that drown in pools and tubs, and even K-9 cops that forget their partners (their dogs) in their vehicles out here in AZ.

 

[ReneeA]

ACCIDENTS have always, and will continue to happen. It's part of living in our world, and part of being human. We can't legislate all accidents...as it is, our jails/prisons are full (over capacity even) of people that are a threat. I don't believe these people are a threat.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Sad. Too bad the sitter didn't notice one kid was missing.
I know it was a tragic mistake but it amazes me how stupid people can be.

I don't think it's a matter of stupidity at all. I think it comes down to hectic lives and changed schedules, etc. In this case, they were probably upset and grieving, too. As far as the sitter goes, maybe she figured they took the three year old with them.

I have nothing but sympathy for these people and for people who have done this. I purposefully would always put my purse in the back seat so I'd have to look back there before I got out, just in case. My son is older now, so I don't have to do that.

These people are totally different than the idiots who leave their children in their cars when they go shopping or drinking. That is purposeful, criminal, and they should be charged with murder, if the child dies.

 

[HSXJedi]

So there are no "actual" consequences to knowing you're responsible for a child's death?

And I agree with wvjules... I don't think adding a fine, probation, or even a prison term would save a single child.

We can agree to disagree, I just feel someone should be responsible for the death of a child. I do not feel it is enough to say "Aw, shucks - they have suffered enough. Don't let it happen again." It was the 3 year-old forgotten in the hot car that truly suffered while being cooked alive.

 

[sam_gordon]

Anything to get people thinking about the consequences of their actions. Maybe they'd take parenting a little more serious.

Is the advice of placing your purse or some other possession with your kid any better? What happens when a mom forgets both her purse and her kid?

Something needs to be done to prevent these incidents.

Awareness, punishment, sensors in newer vehicles - I am for anything that helps.

We have kids left in hot cars, kids that drown in pools and tubs, and even K-9 cops that forget their partners (their dogs) in their vehicles out here in AZ.

In a word, YES, the suggestion of putting a needed item in the back seat next to (or under) the car seat, I feel *IS* better. If someone is on "auto pilot" (for whatever reason), do you honestly believe they're going to think "oh, wait, I could be punished if I leave my child"?

We can agree to disagree, I just feel someone should be responsible for the death of a child. I do not feel it is enough to say "Aw, shucks - they have suffered enough. Don't let it happen again." It was the 3 year-old forgotten in the hot car that truly suffered while being cooked alive.

Who said they're not responsible? Of course they're responsible. You want them punished.

Accidents happen everywhere. Always have, always will. You will NEVER be able to eliminate them.

 

[ckay87]

Strangely enough - if there were actual consequences for your actions in cases like this maybe it would be a deterrent.

OMG, that is very literally the most ridiculous statement I've ever read on the internet.

"Oh boy, I would allow my toddler to roast in the car but boy those fines will cut into my budget"

Unreal

 

[DebD4T]

They were responsible for their child. They failed to protect their child. Someone should be held responsible - even if just fines or probation.

Strangely enough - if there were actual consequences for your actions in cases like this maybe it would be a deterrent.

Just my opinion. Sick of seeing this happen over and over and over.

I believe the consequences are the loss of a child.

We are all human and as humans, we make mistakes. Some are small, inconsequential mistakes, and some are monumental. This scenario would fall under the monumental category.

 

[NHdisneylover]

ACCIDENTS have always, and will continue to happen. It's part of living in our world, and part of being human. We can't legislate all accidents...as it is, our jails/prisons are full (over capacity even) of people that are a threat. I don't believe these people are a threat.

This.