36 Kids Killed in Hot Cars This Year

[andyjackson1828]

DALLAS - It happens with alarming frequency: A parent or day-care worker, often busy or distracted, leaves a helpless child in a vehicle with the windows rolled up, and the youngster dies in the heat.

So far this year, at least 36 children in the United States have died under similar circumstances.

In once such case last week, it was about 100 degrees in Dallas when 8-month-old Jordan Thomas was forgotten inside a day-care center's sport-utility vehicle. Inside, the temperature soared to a blistering 130 to 140 degrees.




http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=4&u=/ap/20030826/ap_on_re_us/child_heat_deaths

[MuseRider]

1. I do not understand

being so preoccupied that you would forget a kid. I have a friend who had 6 kids and one was always getting left somewhere. I had him at my house for 2 days before anyone called me to see if I knew where he was. I just do not get it. I didn't call them since we had planned for him to be with us but only overnight. I guessed they had forgotten.

[slackmaster]

2. 6 kids would be enough to drive a lot of people to distraction

I can't imagine being able to handle it, personally.

[Pillowbiter]

3. This scares the poop outta me

Especially because I now have a 4 month old daughter.

My boss is even more fanatical about his children. He doesn't use daycare, and at all times either him or his wife are with the children, therefore they never go out together without the children. It makes me wonder if he had a bad experience in his past.

PB

[gratuitous]

4. Were any of the kids French?

You know how the Washington Post gets such a charge out of French people dying from the heat!

[Superfly]

5. That was bad.

:spank:

But seriously...how do 10,000 people die from 100 degree weather? You've got to hydrate!

[gratuitous]

6. I know

I'm quite ashamed.

My understanding is that France (and Paris in particular) is wholly unused to 100° temperatures. They're located far enough north (farther north than NYC) that air conditioners and other methods for coping with prolonged heat just don't exist, and this heat wave went on for a couple of weeks or longer. You see a similar situation in reverse on those rare occasions when a snowstorm hits Atlanta: Why don't they just plow the roads and lay down some salt or gravel? They don't have any! And a cold spell that locked all of Georgia down for two or three weeks would probably kill a proportional number of Georgians.

For that reason (among others) the unseemly gloating of the Washington Post over the number of French people dead from this summer's heat just rankled me.

[Pert_UK]

7. What I don't understand is that parents rarely get charged for this

Yes, yes, yes, I know that the parents will have lost their child and that this will be the most appalling trauma that anyone could go through.

To be frank, I actually don't care.....If you leave a child, even through absent mindedness, in a hot car until they are dead then this is a huge dereliction of duty and clearly neglect.

Yes, I know it won't help bring the child back and it just adds pain to pain, but really, COME ON! This isn't an "accident", this is careless, thoughtless, failing to fulfill the very basic level of supervision and support that a child needs.

"36 dead in a year isn't many in a country the size of the USA"....true, but this is 36 totally avoidable deaths of defenceless children.

Oh hang on......How come nobody has sued auto manufacturers yet, for failing to install temperature activated alarms or a/c to protect the kids. Surely it's not the parent's responsibility to stop them cooking to death?

[Occulus]

8. uh.....

"Surely it's not the parent's responsibility to stop them cooking to death?"

Does that even need a response?




















I thought not.

[Pert_UK]

9. I assume that you're agreeing with me and spotted my sarcasm.

If not, consider this a note pointing out my sarcasm.

P.

[LogicTrueFalse]

10. Time for a class action suit

The auto industry should install sensors that will detect this condition and correct it before someone gets hurt.

I'm in.

[Pert_UK]

11. Welcome LogicTrueFalse......sarcasm, I hope?

Welcome to DU!

I'm hoping that your comments were as sarcastic as mine!

P.

[no one in particular]

12. Actually...

I'd be more content if there would be "potential stupid parent detectors" that could stop such people from procreating.

[Pert_UK]

13. Agreed........

Stupidity may be an explanation for it, but it's not an excuse for this level of neglect.

"I'm sorry I left my kid to roast to death. Only I forgot about the defenceless life I'm supposed to be protecting."

"That's alright sir. Try not to do it again. On your way."

:eyes:

[Avalon Sparks]

14. Yes it's appalling and horrible~

I'd like to make a couple observations about what may be contributing to this.

Overworked, overtired, over stressed parents could be a partial cause.

Also, how much are the day care workers and drivers being paid? Do they have to work two jobs?

This country is just so screwed up -

I just watch "Bowling for Columbine" this weekend and I can't get parts of it out of my head.

I'm not trying to let the parents off the hook - but no parent (aside from Susan Smith types) would do this on purpose or just out of sheer stupidity.

There are no excuses for this happening of course, I'm just trying to consider all the factors that may contribute to these horrible losses, in the hopes of maybe trying to prevent them.

[jody]

15. 16 children 3 and under were accidentially killed with firearms in 2000.

:shrug: