1-year-old dies after being left in hot car for hours in Alabama

[The Straight Story]

A 1-year-old girl died Thursday after she was left for hours in a parked car on a sweltering day in Homewood, Ala., NBC station WVTM reported.

Police said they received a call around 1:30 p.m. about a baby locked inside a vehicle. The temperature outside at the time was about 91 degrees, and the temperature inside vehicles can reach life-threatening levels quickly.

The girl was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Chris Conn told WVTM that he saw the mother panicking, ran over and performed CPR on the child, but it was too late. He said the child had been left in the car around 10 a.m.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/18/19545975-1-year-old-dies-after-being-left-in-hot-car-for-hours-in-alabama?lite

If we banned cars and only let non-government people use horse and buggies these things would not happen.

[gollygee]

1. I was with you till you last sentence

We need cars to get to work and shop for food and that kind of thing. We don't need guns.

And count up how many babies accidentally die in hot cars each year and compare that to how many accidental gun deaths there are each year.

[JNelson6563]

3. I know, right?

That was awfully heatherish of the OP, wasn't it? How sad.

[The Straight Story]

4. Amish don't need cars. And some people hunt for their food. Cars harm the earth

And add to local pollution, asthma, etc.

Funny how people act about something when it is something they do being called out....

[gollygee]

7. No, it's just a completely false equivalency

cars and guns are nothing alike.

[aikoaiko]

57. I don't see any claims of equivalency.

Perhaps an analogy.

[BeyondGeography]

16. You're calling people out for driving?

Dude...

[LanternWaste]

51. You then believe horse buggies and hunting are viable and practical cultural replacements

You then believe horse buggies and hunting are viable and practical cultural replacements that would allow us to maintain a relatively stable national economy after the demise of stock and vehicles?

If so, you're analogy stands, If not, it's not a valid analogy.

[truth2power]

93. I thought that last line was sarcasm. Geez!

[diabeticman]

17. The Amish in our area do just fine shopping for food without a car. It can be done. The OP idea

is extreme BUT horse and buggy has been around before cars and still are used by some.

[NutmegYankee]

26. Calm down! Nobody is going to take your car keys.

We just want sensible traffic laws, like requiring a breathalyzer and GPS tracking device in every new car.

[morningfog]

29. He's trying waaaaaay too hard.

[Javaman]

36. +1 nt

[JNelson6563]

2. Ok, wtf?

If I had seen a child locked in a hot car like that I would break the window. Forget waiting for police!

I say we put the parent in a hot car and forget about her. I promise to run to her frantically after as many hours as the child was left and perform CPR.

Julie--who just can't imagine forgetting a child in a car

[gollygee]

6. Do you have kids?

I can imagine it. You get focused on some issue you're dealing with and forget there's a baby asleep in the back seat.

I used to keep my purse in the back seat so I'd always have to open the back door.

[wercal]

8. I can absolutely see this happening

Especially if this mother was dealing with other kids, on the phone, etc.

[snooper2]

39. or busy smoking some crack or meth

[Arugula Latte]

58. Not necessarily, though.

Even good, smart, dedicated parents can do this. There are a lot of distractions when you're dealing with small kids. You're often tired and multi-tasking. My husband and I used to talk about how forgetful I was when the kids were babies/toddlers.

[truth2power]

94. What a terribly insensitive thing to say. You have no idea what you're talking about...

A similar tragedy occurred in my own community about 5 years ago. It was horrible! The entire community chose sides and the venom directed at the mother, by some, was indescribable.

At the time, I did some extensive research on these incidents. One researcher at a university in Florida found that when you're under stress your brain produces chemicals that make you behave as if you have ADHD.

You can't focus adequately and you can forget things. The intrinsic value of things you forget is irrelevant - you can forget your coffee cup and you can forget your child.

The tragedy is that there are items on the market that could help prevent these incidents. One that I read about is a type of alarm that's attached to the car key ring. The associated part goes on the child's car seat belt. When you get more than 10 ft. from your car the alarm goes off if the child's seat belt hasn't been unlatched. (This is the best way I can explain it. I've, long ago, thrown away all my paperwork regarding this).

I suspect that thes reason more parents don't avail themselves of such aids is that to do so is admitting that EVEN THEY could forget their child. But better safe than sorry, IMO.

There should be a public safety campaign to support and educate parents around this issue, instead of engaging in blame after the fact.

[JNelson6563]

9. Yes, 2 of them.

And I never forgot them. Believe me, I had many distractions and issues to deal with while they were growing up but I managed to remember them.

Julie

[gollygee]

13. Well obviously most people DO remember them

but I've read studies that anyone CAN forget them if they get distracted. Our brains don't distinguish between "important" and "not important" when we forget stuff.

[woodsprite]

22. Same here. I had a music teacher who didn't normally drop her daughter

off at daycare and it was her day. The baby was asleep and she just got out and went into work. Luckily, it was Fall, and her hubby called her shortly after she arrived to make sure everything went well dropping the baby off. She ran back out and the baby was fine. She got a sub for her class and took the baby to daycare, but the Mom was really shaken up that she could be so distracted.

Me, I worry that my hubby will forget to pick our son up when he has to do it, and our son is 13yo. It's something different than our normal day-to-day schedule and I just call (wherever I am) to remind him.

[dbackjon]

72. Then you shouldn't have kids

If you could so easily forget a child.

[gollygee]

78. I already have them

Sorry but you're too late.

[SheilaT]

82. Excellent solution.

My kids are long since grown, and I never left them in a car, but it's entirely too easy to happen.

What can we suggest a man do to make sure he needs to open the back seat, since most of them don't carry purses?

[gollygee]

83. Cell phone?

You shouldn't be talking on the phone or texting when driving anyway, but most people do. A neighbor just got rear-ended by someone on the phone a couple of days ago. If people got used to putting their phones in the back, it would take care of two problems.

[gollygee]

90. Motivation?

Huh? It has nothing to do with motivation. If it had to do with motivation, this would never happen.

[gollygee]

92. Because if you're out of your routine, you might forget

but grabbing my purse is always a part of my routine, plus it contains my money, and anyplace I go requires money. I'm thinking about how much wherever I'm going will cost as I'm pulling into the parking spot.

On the other hand, if a baby is rear facing in the back seat away from me and asleep so I don't see or hear her, and I don't usually have the baby with me when I do that, and I am in a routine that doesn't involve the baby, I - and anyone else - could forget.

Our brains aren't wired to only forget things that are important. As far as forgetting goes, it can happen to anything - no matter how important or dear to us. If we're out of a routine, we can forget anything.

[Trajan]

89. Never in my wildest nightmares

Would one of my children ( or your children) be left inside of my vehicle ... I cannot imagine closing the door and walking away from a locked car with my kids remaining inside ...

it never happened ... it would never happen, unless it was a dire emergency ...

[sharp_stick]

10. When my oldest was a baby

I'd occasionally have to take her to daycare. Not very often, maybe one or two days a month.

She would fall asleep before I hit the highway almost every time.

I made a point of putting my laptop case/lunch on the floor in front of the car seat so I had to open the door and stare at that car seat. In fact my laptop still goes on the floor in front of where her seat used to be, old habits die hard.

Thinking about work, life and whatever as I do my normal commute, I can see how easy it would have been to forget her back there and the thought terrified me.

[thelordofhell]

25. There are laws on the books in Arizona protecting you from lawsuits

If you break a car window to save a child from the heat...........

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Anyone who thinks they could never forget their child in a car should read this:

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-03-08/news/36840402_1_courtroom-tissue-class-trip

[JNelson6563]

11. My kids are now 21 & 24.

And I never once forgot them.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. Most people don't. But some do, and the reasons aren't what you might think.

Just get down off your high horse and read the article.

[sharp_stick]

14. Most people don't

count yourself among the lucky majority.

[MelungeonWoman]

43. Your children were out of carseats before the laws changed.

When I carted my kids around they were usually strapped into the seat beside me, facing forward. Now days the carrier goes in the back, facing backwards. It's a big difference.

[JNelson6563]

55. Carseat was never in front.

And I had a clear view of them in my rearview mirror.

Sorry to all of those who think any of us who managed to keep our kids alive into adulthood were really lucky, I WILL NEVER be able to comprehend this. Never.

Julie

[laundry_queen]

70. That's nice you think so highly of yourself.

You had 2 kids. I have 4. I'm now a single parent and am in school full time. When I was married and was a stay at home mom, I used to think the same way - how could anyone forget their child? Everything I DO is for my children. Everywhere I go is for them. I knew I'd NEVER forget them, ever. I knew I was a better mom than that. (lol)

Then my life was turned upside down and I found myself sole caregiver 24/7 of 4 children, while trying to juggle full time school and a part time job. Tired doesn't even begin to cover how I feel most days. I'm lucky that my kids are a bit older and not babies, but still, there were a few times I forgot to turn to take my 3 yo to daycare and she would scream, "mommy!!! I need to go to babysitter!" and I'd be like, "OMG, I forgot to make that turn!" I can't tell you how many times I'd put her in the carseat and forget to buckle her up. I'd get to the daycare and get her out and nothing was buckled. I'd always think, "OMG, how did I forget THAT? I was RIGHT THERE!" I can't even tell you how many times I went straight home, and while putting my books away, or starting to make supper, suddenly I'd remember I forgot to pick up my child from daycare! (thankfully, her daycare was in my same town and very close to my house). Or there were even a few times, with my laptop bag and book bag in the backseat, where I'd walk into my school and realize I didn't have any of my school stuff with me, and I'd have to run back to my car.

There but before the grace of God go I. I no longer harshly judge those parents. There was one mother on TV yesterday here in Canada whose daughter died after being left in the care by her father. It was his day to drop of the kids at their daycares (they were in separate ones) and after her dropped off the first child there was a detour and he ended up on the road he usually took to work. So he went to work and forgot about his baby. And she died. The mom said he was a wonderful father, very involved, and he just plain forgot. It happens. It happens to people who are good parents. It happens to people who are crappy parents. It happens to smart people and it happens to dumb people.

Now, it may be you were lucky, or it may be that you had a routine that helped you always remember. It may be you didn't have as much stress as some people. It may be that you never had a big enough shake up of your routine, the same day you were stressed out, so your brain didn't forget. But I find it somewhat egocentric for you to think you are so superior that this could NEVER happen to you. It could. Maybe you have taken steps to make it much less likely, (like being able to see them in your rearview mirror, which is not possible with the seating configuration in my van) but it's important to realize that given certain circumstances, all humans are fallible. ALL.

[JNelson6563]

19. Does anyone doubt the regret?

And yes, of course, we're all just so busy and so stressed....

Sorry, I will never understand how anyone could do this. I know it's not on purpose but damn! And yes, I even feel sorry for those who have done this, life is a guilt trip for the rest of their lives.

Doesn't mean I can comprehend how anyone could do this.

Julie

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. Just read the article.

These were readers' online comments to The Washington Post news article of July 10, 2008, reporting the circumstances of the death of Miles Harrison's son. These comments were typical of many others, and they are typical of what happens again and again, year after year in community after community, when these cases arise. A substantial proportion of the public reacts not merely with anger, but with frothing vitriol.

Ed Hickling believes he knows why. Hickling is a clinical psychologist from Albany, N.Y., who has studied the effects of fatal auto accidents on the drivers who survive them. He says these people are often judged with disproportionate harshness by the public, even when it was clearly an accident, and even when it was indisputably not their fault.

Humans, Hickling said, have a fundamental need to create and maintain a narrative for their lives in which the universe is not implacable and heartless, that terrible things do not happen at random, and that catastrophe can be avoided if you are vigilant and responsible.

In hyperthermia cases, he believes, the parents are demonized for much the same reasons. "We are vulnerable, but we don't want to be reminded of that. We want to believe that the world is understandable and controllable and unthreatening, that if we follow the rules, we'll be okay. So, when this kind of thing happens to other people, we need to put them in a different category from us. We don't want to resemble them, and the fact that we might is too terrifying to deal with. So, they have to be monsters."

[JNelson6563]

21. That's it, I'm afraid I'm actually like that!

Yes, I will go read an 11 page article on your insistence. Not. I read some of it. I don't need to read all 11 pages to know what's in there. Lots of regret from parents and lots of reasons given why simple folk like myself are not just full of sympathy and love for those who have fucked up so bad they killed their child.

Sorry.

Julie

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

24. No, that's not what the article is about at all.

It's about the mechanisms of the human brain that cause people - even normal, conscientious people like you - to forget even extremely important things. It's about how these human failures cause accidents. I use this article in a university course I teach about safety and human factors. Before I started teaching this class and doing the research relating to human factors and the way the mind works I thought I was one of those smart, careful people who would never make a dangerous mistake because I was so cautious and sensible. I now know that I am just as susceptible to disastrous error as anyone else.

The article is not about how regretful these parents are, although obviously that's part of the discussion. It's about how their human brains failed them.

Of course don't you have to read it if you don't think it's worth your time, but it's both interesting and enlightening.

[cali]

38. I'd like to point out that millions of parents NEVER FUCKING

leave their kids to swelter or freeze in the car, no matter how distracted they are. The parents that do are the exception.

Now that doesn't mean I don't have some sympathy for them, but the vast majority of parents are aware enough that this doesn't happen.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

41. This is true. The article is about why the few that do forget, forget.

[dixiegrrrrl]

34. I did not realize that baby car seats make a child invisible to the driver.

Had my kids before there were even seatbelts.

The article points out:

Two decades ago, this was relatively rare.
But in the early 1990s, car-safety experts declared that passenger-side front airbags could kill children, and they recommended that child seats be moved to the back of the car;
then, for even more safety for the very young, that the baby seats be pivoted to face the rear.
If few foresaw the tragic consequence of the lessened visibility of the child . . . "

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

40. I think this is something people just don't think about.

When I was a kid there were no airbags, seat belts or even car seats. Parents just parked the kid on the seat next to you and hoped he didn't fall on the floor if they had to stop suddenly. Our only restriction was that we weren't allowed to stand on the seat while the car was moving. Obviously this was hazardous in a number of ways, but it was impossible to forget the kid was in the car.

These incidents occur when the parent is fatigued, distracted and/or there is a change in routine, as where there is a change in cars, the other parent isn't available to take the kid to day care, they are running late, whatever. These are all factors that mess up your brain and cause you to forget things, even important things. If on top of this the baby is asleep in the back seat in an aft-facing car seat, the baby might be forgotten, maybe only for a few minutes so nothing happens.

I would guess that forgetting babies in cars, as opposed to leaving them there "for just a few minutes" while running an errand, happens a lot more often than it used to.

[dixiegrrrrl]

44. "happens a lot more often than it used to."

Exactly...as the article says, until 1990's, forgetting kids in car was extremely rare.
And now most of the cases involve car seats.

I can say with confidence that my mind was always on the kids when they were little..
but can also say we thought nothing of kids riding in front seat, often on passenger laps,
riding in backs of pickups (on low traffic country lanes, never highways).

Times change...I am very glad I never had to use a baby carseat.

[allin99]

27. i fell apart by the 2nd page. :((((((

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. Tough read, isn't it?

The author got a Pulitzer for that article. It really turns a lot of assumptions on their heads.

[allin99]

32. i couldn't get past page 2, but i def. understand the...

leaving of the child out of brain distraction though. Like the guy who drove straight to the office with his kid in the car, it totally makes sense (can't remember if that was in the article or just somehtng someone else mentioned). I've gotten on the wrong train when i was distracted by somethng, happens all the time.

i pray for the woman whose baby just died. i pray for all those parents actually. I cannot imagine for a second the type of greif guilt that would haunt them for every single second of their lives. I would want to end my pain.

[cali]

37. Nope. Could never. Always was hypervigilant about it

Sorry, I'm prone to distraction, but never around small children.

[MineralMan]

15. It's horribly shocking that anyone would do this today.

How could anyone not know the danger? It's on the news all the time. Horrifying!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. Read this article. It explains why this keeps happening.

Rich parents, poor parents, negligent, stupid parents, and conscientious, intelligent parents have all accidentally left their children in cars. It's a kind of human failure that causes a lot of accidents of all kinds.

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-03-08/news/36840402_1_courtroom-tissue-class-trip

[MineralMan]

23. I suppose so.

I can't imagine forgetting a child, though, no matter how preoccupied I might be. That may just be a failure of imagination, though.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

30. From the article, which won a Pulitzer and is well worth reading:

Two decades ago, this was relatively rare. But in the early 1990s, car-safety experts declared that passenger-side front airbags could kill children, and they recommended that child seats be moved to the back of the car; then, for even more safety for the very young, that the baby seats be pivoted to face the rear. If few foresaw the tragic consequence of the lessened visibility of the child . . . well, who can blame them? What kind of person forgets a baby?

The wealthy do, it turns out. And the poor, and the middle class. Parents of all ages and ethnicities do it. Mothers are just as likely to do it as fathers. It happens to the chronically absent-minded and to the fanatically organized, to the college-educated and to the marginally literate. In the last 10 years, it has happened to a dentist. A postal clerk. A social worker. A police officer. An accountant. A soldier. A paralegal. An electrician. A Protestant clergyman. A rabbinical student. A nurse. A construction worker. An assistant principal. It happened to a mental health counselor, a college professor and a pizza chef. It happened to a pediatrician. It happened to a rocket scientist.

[dixiegrrrrl]

31. from the OP article link:

So far this year there have been at least 21 deaths of children unattended in vehicles, according to a study from the Department of Geosciences at San Francisco State University.
In 2012, that number was 33.


Sadly,happens more than it should.

[MineralMan]

47. Those numbers aren't that surprising to me, really.

I just can't imagine leaving a child in a hot car. I have a dog. My wife and I just got back from a quick trip to Northern Minnesota, with the goal of visiting the North American Bear Center in Ely, MN. It took 5 hours to drive there from St. Paul. We took the dog, and the temps were in the high 80s and low 90s. The dog never spent a minute in the car without us and the AC being on.

At the bear center, my wife went inside, while I stayed with the dog. After a visit to the pet "exercise" area, the dog and I got back in the car and used the AC to stay comfortable. There were thousands of mosquitoes in that pet area, and neither of us was encouraged to spend any more time there than necessary. I skipped the visit to the bear center itself, so my wife wouldn't have to deal with either sitting in the car with the AC or walking the dog in the heat and mosquito infestation. No big deal. The bear thing is my wife's deal, mostly.

Otherwise, the trip was great. "Dude," our beagle/basset mix got to meet lots of people and other dogs and was happy as could be looking out the car window or sleeping on the back seat. We wouldn't have dreamed of leaving him in that hot car for even a minute.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

49. But you knew the dog was there.

Parents are leaving their kids in cars because they forget they're in the car - the kid is in the back seat because of the airbag, asleep in an aft-facing carseat and invisible to the driver. There's no excuse for knowingly leaving a child or a dog in a hot car for even a few minutes. The problem that has come up, mostly since the invention of passenger-side airbags, is kids being forgotten in cars. There have also been a few instances where K-9 officers have forgotten their sleeping dogs in back seats, with similarly tragic results.

[MineralMan]

52. And I'd know that a kid was in the car, too.

I would have put the kid there, in that rear-facing car seat. How would I not know? Here in Minnesota, most of the kids left in cars cases happen at the local casinos. Others seem to happen around bars. We had one this past winter where a kid was left in a car in sub-zero temperatures while mom was in the casino gambling. Someone else noticed her after some time had passed, and the kid was rescued. Fortunately, that child is now in foster care, rather than with a mother who forgot or ignored that the child was in the car and went to play the slots.

I'm not sure that these children are actually "forgotten." I think that's often used as an excuse, though.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

54. Maybe you would, maybe you wouldn't.

The WaPo article I cited previously discusses how people forget things (like kids in cars) that you can't imagine forgetting. It has nothing to do with whether you are a good parent, or conscientious, or careful. It has to do with how the human brain works. I teach a human factors course and I use this article to make the point that no matter how safe and sensible and careful you are, you along with every other human being on the face of the earth are capable of committing disastrous errors because of the inherent weaknesses in the way the human brain processes information. You (and I) are, indeed, capable of forgetting a child in a car.

There is no excuse for knowingly leaving a child in a hot (or cold) car while shopping, gambling, drinking in a bar or anything else. Yes, that occurs, and the parent deserves to be prosecuted, but those are different cases.

[gollygee]

59. A dog barking and wagging it's tail

isn't the same as a baby rear-faced in the back seat so you can't see her and sleeping so you can't hear her. Completely different situation.

Our brains and memory are not wired differently for really important things than for trivial things. We can forget anything, no matter how important.

[MineralMan]

60. Perhaps so. I could not forget that there was a child

in a car seat in my vehicle. Not a chance.

[gollygee]

62. I'm betting a lot of parents who had this happen

thought the same thing.

I never thought it couldn't happen to me, so I always kept my purse in the back seat so I'd have to open the back door.

[MineralMan]

63. Well, that would work. Nobody every forgets her purse.

At least my wife never forgets hers.

[gollygee]

64. It's part of the routine

We feel weird not holding the purse when we're out, but if we don't always hold the baby when we're out we won't notice the difference if we don't hold the baby at that moment.

Also, wherever we are going probably requires money, which is in the purse.

Now, I'm a stay-at-home mom, so what happened to me was that I'd forget I DIDN'T have the baby and freak out when I didn't see her. The opposite but if I can forget I don't have her because it's out of my routine to not have her, I can forget I have her because it's out of my routine to have her.

[MineralMan]

65. I'm big on situational awareness, generally.

It's a big point for me to be aware of where I am, what I am doing, and what are my surroundings at all times. That's always been the case. That's why I can't imagine myself forgetting that there is a child in my car. That simply doesn't compute for me. It's my habit, and it's one I don't vary from.

I'm sure I could tell you the entire contents of my car at any given time, down to which tools are in the toolbox in the trunk.

[gollygee]

66. Perhaps you are different from almost all other people then

but please realize that this is a case of you being different from almost all other people, and that this could happen to almost anyone.

[MineralMan]

68. Well, I'd disagree with your "almost all other people"

statement. Truly, I would. That only a couple of dozen children in the country die annually in these incidents seems to argue against what you are saying. I think "almost all people" don't ever forget that there is a child in the car with them.

[gollygee]

76. Almost all other people potentially could

depending on the specific circumstances. Usually it's a case of someone being tired and out of a routine - like the parent who ususally drops the baby off at daycare doesn't that day so the other parent does.

[laundry_queen]

77. It's amazing how many people here

truly believe it could never happen to them. I guess some people just have a need to believe they are better than others, or different.

I love my kids more than anything in the world. I was a very careful parent when they were little. Hypervigilant even. I could be, because I was a stay at home parent. Now that I'm a single parent of 4, in school full time, my stress levels are through the roof. It does stuff to your brain. People who declare this could never happen to them have likely not been stressed out to a large degree while trying to care for children. I've never forgotten my child in my car, but I've forgotten to take her to the babysitter (she reminded me after a wrong turn because she was older), I've forgotten my laptop and school books in my car as I waltzed into school without them. I have forgotten to pick up my child from daycare. I've also had severe panic when once, I fell asleep after getting home from school (was up with a sick kid the night before and had to write an exam) and woke up at 6pm and I thought I forgot to pick up my child, I jumped out of bed, ran downstairs and grabbed the keys. My older children said, "where are you going?" "To pick up your sister! I forgot to pick her up!" They started laughing at me - she was right there. I forgot I had arranged for my dad to pick her up.

With all these incidences, I thank my lucky stars I'm not dealing with this shit when I had small babies. My kids don't fall asleep in the car, they are older. Their carseats aren't rear-facing. I live in a cold climate that only has a few hot days a year. I think it was this last winter when someone forgot their baby in the car in freezing cold temperatures - the baby was okay because she was dressed for winter. That parent was lucky it wasn't during the summer. I wish people would stop thinking it could never happen to them, and instead, sympathize and push for systems that remind parents children are in the vehicle. It would likely save more lives than the judgement and denial we often see.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

81. "It does stuff to your brain." Exactly. I wish people would read the WaPo article

I cited on this thread before spouting off about how such a thing would never, ever happen to them because they are so careful. It has nothing to do with being a good parent or loving your children or thinking about them all the time. It has everything to do with how human error occurs when the brain is overloaded. Most of the time these bad things don't happen because the confluence of events that causes them doesn't take place - maybe you've never been overtired, worried, sick, distracted, had your routine disrupted and a sleeping kid in the back seat of your car all at the same time. Or maybe these things did occur all at once and you forgot the kid but remembered before anything bad happened (we can never know how often this occurs, but I bet it's not that unusual). So those of you who think you're better parents, or more conscientious or whatever - you aren't, unless you're cyborgs. You've just been lucky.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

75. I forget mine on a regular basis.

I've left it at home, at work, in the car, in stores; at restaurants; fortunately I've always noticed its absence soon enough to keep it from having disappeared permanently. It's always been when I was busy or preoccupied or in a hurry or carrying a lot of other stuff. People forget things, important things. It's the way our brains work. It's why airlines and other safety-critical operation require written checklists.

[SheilaT]

84. I hate to disagree with you, but

women occasionally do forget the purse.

Your wife, god love her, is only one woman out of how many million in this country alone?

[MineralMan]

85. Well, when she doesn't have her purse, it's because she

asked me to hold it, so she can do something. She knows where it is at all times. Her entire life is in there, I'm sure.

[SheilaT]

86. Trust me. Women occasionally forget the purse.

It happened to me once. Only once, and about 40 years ago, and never again. But it happens.

Oh, and one time my husband and I followed a car a mile or so home from the grocery store when we noticed a woman leaving her purse on top of the car after putting in the groceries, then driving off. Residential streets, so the purse stayed up there, and she was highly grateful when we approached her when she got home.

It happens.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

87. Yes, you could, unless your brain is wired differently from every other human being's.

The circumstances would probably have to be unusual and stressful, but you and I and everybody else are capable of disastrous errors like forgetting a kid in a car, given the right confluence of circumstances.

[Fumesucker]

98. I think that absolute certainty of one's own powers would lead one to be less likely to double check

Here's a piece by someone who *almost* killed their child, I see you in the last paragraph I quote.

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-03-15/opinions/35446924_1_hot-car-karen-murphy-charge-of-felony-murder

It was stifling hot on the summer morning 29 years ago when I almost murdered my daughter.

“Murder” is an unforgiving term for what nearly happened that day, but to prosecutors in Prince William County, it is appropriate. That was the charge they brought last year against Bristow veterinarianKaren Murphy, whose 2-year-old, Ryan, did not do what my 2-year-old, Molly, did on the day I almost killed her: wake up at the last minute and say something.

So I didn’t park and lock my car and head into my office that morning, as Murphy did last June 17. Instead, after steadying my nerves against the knowledge of what I’d almost done, I drove my daughter to day care, as I’d meant to do before I somehow — inexplicably, inexcusably — forgot that she was sitting in the back seat.

<snip>

If the ugliness seems puzzling to you, it doesn’t to psychologists who have examined this phenomenon. It’s a form of denial, they say: Deep down, people understand that all lives are fragile, that we are all capable of momentary mistakes or misjudgments that could destroy us. We don’t want to face this terrifying fact. So we must convince ourselves that the people to whom it happens are unlike us. To sustain our delusion of safety, we must make them monsters.

[Doctor_J]

33. is this a pro-gun post?

Have the gunsters decided to make every non-gun death into a propaganda item?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. What do guns have to do with it?

It isn't about guns unless somebody tries to hijack the thread.

[Fumesucker]

42. Last paragraph of the OP could easily be read that way

Particularly knowing the poster's history.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

45. OK, but I didn't pick up on that at all.

[Quantess]

46. According to the article

So far this year there have been at least 21 deaths of children unattended in vehicles, according to a study from the Department of Geosciences at San Francisco State University. In 2012, that number was 33.

WOW, 21 dead children already? We still have August and September to go.
I wonder how many dogs have died in hot cars this year already....

[dipsydoodle]

48. Dogs die

when passerby dont break the fucking windows.

[Quantess]

73. Good point.

Also, the passerby could have broken the window for the baby's sake in this instance, as well, although it was probably already too late.

[dipsydoodle]

79. I didn't mean to detract from the subject of the OP

which I find truly distressing. If I saw a child in a car in the heat with no windows open I'd rip the door open - that's easier than you might think.

[Quantess]

80. No of course not. I was the one who first mentioned dogs.

But the people in story called 911 and didn't break into the car. Then again, 911 probably would get to the scene faster than animal control would... But yeah, I don't think anyone would get in trouble for smashing a car window if a baby were at risk of heat stroke.

[Fumesucker]

99. It nearly happened to a neighbor of mine's dog earlier this year, I posted the story as a warning

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022937891

[Rex]

50. Cars are needed to get to work so you can survive.

Guns are made to shoot and kill people and are not needed for survival.

Great story, too bad you ficked it all up with some stupid pro gun crap at the end. Embarrassing how some people here cannot let go of the fact that their GUN kills people...that is what it is made to do! A car...stupid people like to compare them to a guns.

[abelenkpe]

53. +1000 nt

[madmom]

56. When my kids were little, they were

ALWAYS on my mind...ALWAYS. It didn't matter what else I was doing my children were there, mentally, isn't that what being a parent is all about?

[MineralMan]

67. That's what I'd think, too. However, I know it is not true in all cases.

In a few cases, that can lead to tragedy. Very few cases, thank goodness.

We just had a case in Wisconsin, where a 2-year-old died in a car trunk in our blazing hot weather. Absurdly, nobody bothered to open that car trunk, because the owner of the car assured searchers that the trunk had been locked with the child went missing. Nobody said, "Well, let's open it up and be sure." Had they done that, the child might not have died, only to be discovered hours later, when the owner of the car went to put something in the trunk.

I guess the trunk was NOT locked when the child disappeared.

A child died. It is a tragic case.

[Dash87]

61. Last sentence kills it and is beyond ridiculous.

I don't understand this argument. 'You get to drive, so I should own a 500-round automatic assault rifle that can kill 100 people in 10 minutes!" It's the worst pro-gun comparison ever.

We already put restrictions on cars anyways. We have speed limits and traffic laws. The types of cars that you can drive and how safe they must be is heavily regulated. So, yes, guns should be like cars - lets heavily regulate them.

[LittleBlue]

69. 3.5 hours in an oven

That little baby must have gone through hell. Fucking awful. RIP

That mother is a hazard to her children. If she has any other children, they should be taken immediately. A few minutes is a mistake, 3 hours is unforgivable.

[dbackjon]

71. Fucking insensitive right-wing trollish shit on last sentence.

[penultimate]

97. Both sides of the gun debate love to do that though...

I find it annoying either way.

[bamacrat]

74. This happened about 10 miles from where I work.

People in my office were in that area that day and they all are sick with the what ifs of could I have saved the baby. This appears to be a horrible accident that many parents have told me is more common than you'd think. I, not having children of my own, figured how could you forget that there is a person in your car. Not only a person but your child. But, all the mothers in my office said that if you deviate from your normal routine and the baby falls asleep its easy to forget they are in there, especially during the summer when they arent in school or day care. This is sad.

[penultimate]

96. There's a difference between purposely leaving a kid in a car

because you don't want to deal with taking them out, versus accidentally leaving a kid in the car because you had a bunch of things going on. I don't think the article stated either way, but I'm going to assume it was an accident until otherwise stated.