Hot Car Act

[pryncess527]

People griped about the cost of seatbelts too, but they have saved thousands of lives. I'm glad seatbelts aren't optional.

I can't find any numbers, but from what I recall the solution here is expected to be very cheap. Like, less than $50 per car (and I'm being generous because I can't find data, but I really think it was pennies). If we can save the life of 1 innocent child every summer by paying pennies to $50, I think it's well worth it. There is no telling what impact those saved lives could have on society. (hell, I'd pay a lot more than that and I don't have kids)

 

[marcyleecorgan]

For those flawed humans who will drive small children in cars that do not have the new sensors and want to take precautions that this could never happen to your precious little one, the advice given is to take off one of your shoes when you buckle up the child and place it on the floor area in front of the child. You won't go far without realizing you're missing your shoe.

That is an amazingly awesome suggestion! I understand when you change a routine, all sorts of crazy things can happen.

It's not an issue for me personally as I don't drive very often (usually public transit) but if I am driving, it's because I have the little one with me. So I'm not likely to forget she's back there, because otherwise, WHY am I driving?

But YMMV! Wish we didn't need such invasive technology to add expenses to our lives because too many adults are over-stressed and not thinking clearly.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It was interesting to read the brain hypothesis, but I think what it really boils down to is simply stress and distraction, with a few other factors thrown in, like tiredness and perhaps change of routine. All things many of us can relate to either infividually or all together. I can relate to all of them in my work life a lot. As a hospital nurse on long and often grueling shifts with a lot of distraction and stress, I can never let my guard down that I have someone's life in my hands, and that I have to work super hard to pay attention really closely to what I'm doing at all times. We have a lot of safety features built in that have changed for the better over the past twenty years or so, but there will never be perfect safety because safety features aren't 100%; humans are working with them and mistakes can still be made. It's pretty scary if you think about it too much! But I look at the safety features we do have now and I can't imagine going back to how it used to be. I think the same can probably be said for car safety as well, given that we do have the number of unintended deaths that we have now. If there's a solution that helps even some of them, then it would be irresponsible, IMO, not to use them. They may add a cost in one way, but save a lot in another.

 

[Klayfish]

I hear what you're saying, but I have all kinds of options on my 2016 model, many of which I don't use, either. One is driving me nuts it shuts the engine off when you come to a stop I have to figure out how to shut it off, lol.

Not sure what kind of car you have, but I'm guessing it's a hybrid or the "eco" trim level of a particular model. In the vast majority of those cars, you can't shut off the stop/start feature. It's part of the cars' programming. Designed to save fuel, so that manufacturers can meet the rising fuel economy standards. It's a little weird at first, but you get used to it....some cars it's a bit smoother than others.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Not sure what kind of car you have, but I'm guessing it's a hybrid or the "eco" trim level of a particular model. In the vast majority of those cars, you can't shut off the stop/start feature. It's part of the cars' programming. Designed to save fuel, so that manufacturers can meet the rising fuel economy standards. It's a little weird at first, but you get used to it....some cars it's a bit smoother than others.

There is a button on the driver's panel that shuts it off, but the trick is you have to press it every time you turn the car on. I'm pretty good about remembering it each time now, but if someone else drives it, they forget. The family is getting used to it, though.

 

[cabanafrau]

That is an amazingly awesome suggestion! I understand when you change a routine, all sorts of crazy things can happen.

It's not an issue for me personally as I don't drive very often (usually public transit) but if I am driving, it's because I have the little one with me. So I'm not likely to forget she's back there, because otherwise, WHY am I driving?

But YMMV! Wish we didn't need such invasive technology to add expenses to our lives because too many adults are over-stressed and not thinking clearly.

It's easy to look at your personal situation as it is now and think it could never happen to you. Life throws a few curveballs in the mix and suddenly anybody can be humbled into realizing they're not the guaranteed home run hitter they always believed they were.

A spouse's MS diagnosis, a battle with cancer -- suddenly one joins the ranks of the over-stressed and less than clear thinking adults and maybe there's suddenly a little recognition of gratitude for that invasive technology we grumbled about before.

 

[MillauFr]

A safe crib is different than forgetting that ones child is in the back seat. I just can't understand how someone could be so neglectful. And why does it seem so prevalent now.

Because the media publishes it more today. I doubt if it is more prevalent.

 

[EveDallas]

I used to be one of those perfect parents who thought it would never happen to me. And it didn't - exactly. When my son was about six, I had to drop him off at school (not something I normally did). At the intersection by my house, I would turn left to go to his school and right to go to work. That morning, I turned right like I always did and heard a little voice in the backseat telling me I was going the wrong way. To this day, I wonder what would have happened if he had been a baby. I like to think I would have remembered, but the truth is I have no idea.

 

[tcufrog]

When I was a kid my dad forgot about me in the car. Unlike the babies though I was able to speak up for myself.

One morning my dad had to take my sister and I to school for some reason. He'd never done it before. I sat in the front seat and curled up with a good book. He dropped off my sister at junior high first and then when I eventually looked up from my book I noticed that my dad was at the bank drive thru which was nowhere near my school. I asked my dad "When are you going to drop me off at school?" The look of panic on his face was one I'll never forget. He later told me that I had been so quiet that he had forgotten that I was there.

If my dad could forget about me when I was sitting right next to him I have no doubt that a parent could forget a sleeping baby in the back seat.

 

[mrodgers]

For those flawed humans who will drive small children in cars that do not have the new sensors and want to take precautions that this could never happen to your precious little one, the advice given is to take off one of your shoes when you buckle up the child and place it on the floor area in front of the child. You won't go far without realizing you're missing your shoe.

I won't go far with only 1 shoe on. It's quite uncomfortable to push the throttle and brake without your right shoe and incredibly uncomfortable to push the clutch without your left shoe. Guess I'll just forget my kid in the back of the car.

 

[cabanafrau]

I won't go far with only 1 shoe on. It's quite uncomfortable to push the throttle and brake without your right shoe and incredibly uncomfortable to push the clutch without your left shoe. Guess I'll just forget my kid in the back of the car.

Maybe there's a think tank out there for your dilemma.

 

[Klayfish]

I won't go far with only 1 shoe on. It's quite uncomfortable to push the throttle and brake without your right shoe and incredibly uncomfortable to push the clutch without your left shoe. Guess I'll just forget my kid in the back of the car.

I actually prefer to drive my cars (both are stick shifts) without shoes. Barefoot is much more comfortable for me.

 

[sam_gordon]

I won't go far with only 1 shoe on. It's quite uncomfortable to push the throttle and brake without your right shoe and incredibly uncomfortable to push the clutch without your left shoe. Guess I'll just forget my kid in the back of the car.

So take your shirt off and put it with the child. Or your coat, or your work keys, or your pants. The idea is to put something you'd need when you get out of the car.

 

[Wendy31]

I won't go far with only 1 shoe on. It's quite uncomfortable to push the throttle and brake without your right shoe and incredibly uncomfortable to push the clutch without your left shoe. Guess I'll just forget my kid in the back of the car.

But you get that a lot of people don't have clutches & could, if needed, remove their left shoe & put it in the backseat w/ the carseat w/o compromising any driving ability or personal comfort?

But, really, this....

So take your shirt off and put it with the child. Or your coat, or your work keys, or your pants. The idea is to put something you'd need when you get out of the car.

 

[cabanafrau]

So take your shirt off and put it with the child. Or your coat, or your work keys, or your pants. The idea is to put something you'd need when you get out of the car.

You neglected to include the name of your think tank.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

That would annoy me but I don't have young kids or a dog. I do haul boxes around every day and to have that notification going off every single time would drive me bonkers.

But then I think about people who have left their young kids in hot cars and think it would be worth it to save even one child's life.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

The one in my front seat goes off when I have my cellphone sitting on it. This would drive me nuts.

 

[DLgal]

That would annoy me but I don't have young kids or a dog. I do haul boxes around every day and to have that notification going off every single time would drive me bonkers.

But then I think about people who have left their young kids in hot cars and think it would be worth it to save even one child's life.

I have one in my front passenger seat. You can disable it when it's not a person sitting there. You just press a button to turn it off.

 

[declansdad]

Looks like people didn't bite so Art left.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Did anyone else see that yesterday a lady was charged for the deaths of SIX DOGS that she left in a hot car outside a veterinary practice, of all places?

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/...cle_596eba86-4be0-11e7-801d-d7e5ac60c82e.html