child left in car in heat

[Ohio Buckeye]

In Cincinnati a mother who is an asst. principal left her 2 yr. old in the car and of course
in this heat the child died.  This really gets to me.  Everyone knows you don't leave a
child in the car in hot weather.  The mother was so distraught she had to be taken
to the hospital.  This was so unnecessary.  The mother should be charged with murder.
I am just ranting.  

[st789]

Assistant principal??  She should know better.

[goofynina]

That is the 3rd time i have heard of someone doing that THIS SUMMER alone, WTF?  How can someone "forget" their child is in the car (so they claim they forgot)  It makes me sick to think of how that poor innocent baby sufferred.   I remember seeing a dog in a car in extreme heat at WalMart and you best believe i called the cops, they came, the dog catcher came, they paged the person that owned the car, they took the dog in and i am not too sure what happend but i know they took the dog and i think that lady got fined (she should've gotten arrested)     But she said she was just going to buy something really quick, bullshit, i stood there and watched that car until they came, that was a good 15 minutes or so, that wasnt quick, GRRRRRRRRRRR   

[Sluff]

They deserve the same treatment. 

[Black]

Last week I reading some stats on this and it appears there has been a significant rise in these incidents since children have been required to be in the back seat.  According to what I read it is more frequently the father or the babysitter, usually when there has been a change in routine.  That old thing about "out of site, out of mind".  Maybe there needs to be sensors on car seats so that if they are occupied and the key removed from the ignition they alarm until the child is removed.  Or a way to safely put children in the front seat again, where they all used to be.  No child should ever be left behind to die that horrible death.

[goofynina]

Last week I reading some stats on this and it appears there has been a significant rise in these incidents since children have been required to be in the back seat.  According to what I read it is more frequently the father or the babysitter, usually when there has been a change in routine.  That old thing about "out of site, out of mind".  Maybe there needs to be sensors on car seats so that if they are occupied and the key removed from the ignition they alarm until the child is removed.  Or a way to safely put children in the front seat again, where they all used to be.  No child should ever be left behind to die that horrible death.

Oh wow Black, that would be awesome, i hadnt heard of that but i sure hope they do something and quick.    I am not to fond of the idea of the kids in the front seat with the airbags, it just doesnt seem safe 

[okarol]

Arrggh! I could see forgetting something in the back of a car -- like a bag of groceries, or a flat of plants from the nursery -- but your kid? How spaced out to you have to be to forget something so important?? And it's not a grandparent with Alzheimer's forgetting - it's the parent who strapped the kid into the carseat for the ride to wherever they ended up! Now we gotta invent an alarm to remind a person that they have a living, breathing creature in the car that depends on them for safety and care? That is beyond imaginable.
EOR (end of rant)

[meadowlandsnj]

In Cincinnati a mother who is an asst. principal left her 2 yr. old in the car and of course
in this heat the child died.  This really gets to me.  Everyone knows you don't leave a
child in the car in hot weather.  The mother was so distraught she had to be taken
to the hospital.  This was so unnecessary.  The mother should be charged with murder.
I am just ranting.  

\

It's like you can remember to run into the storee to get your bag of chips or cigarettes but you can forget your child who's in the hot car suffocating.  There ave been cases in my NYC area of school bus drivers who forget they have little children on their busses and they leave them there for hours.  Another tragedy is all the pool drownings of children.....don't you watch your childen???  When I was young I had a job as a nanny/babysitter and I never left "my" kids alone for any reason, I always had them in site of me.  How can a 3 year old wander away from a house without anyone knowing and end up in the neighbors pool??  It's criminal.   

Donna

[skyedogrocks]

Arrggh! I could see forgetting something in the back of a car -- like a bag of groceries, or a flat of plants from the nursery -- but your kid? How spaced out to you have to be to forget something so important?? And it's not a grandparent with Alzheimer's forgetting - it's the parent who strapped the kid into the carseat for the ride to wherever they ended up! Now we gotta invent an alarm to remind a person that they have a living, breathing creature in the car that depends on them for safety and care? That is beyond imaginable.
EOR (end of rant)

I agree, how the heck can you forget that your kid is in the car?  This just amazes me!!!  How stupid do you have to be to forget your little one?

I get disgusted when I see people leave their dogs in the car.  The best is when they do the automatic start yet what happens when the car shuts off?  I witnessed a couple do this for their dog and then the time elasped and the car shut off.  I was waiting for Rob to come out of Home Depot when I witnessed this.  I called the police and we waited until they came.  The couple came out when the police cut the window to let the dog out.  The couple was pissed about their car!!!  The police game them hell, it was a very hot day!!!!  They said that the car was running.  The Police said obviously not and I piped up and said it wasn't either.  I don't know what happened to them, we left.  But I felt good in knowing that a pooch was saved!

[livecam]

Here is another side to the story, my side.  Once upon a time when my daughter was very young (about two) I had to leave her briefly locked in the car in the back seat.  It was an overcast day with the outside temperature in the 60's.

Here is some background.  In those days both my wife and I worked weekends.  It was my custom to take our daughter to work with me on Saturdays with my wife coming to pick her up after she finished at work. 

I was violently ill that day.  I'm talking about major cramping and diarrhea.  Calling in sick wasn't an option as there would have been nobody else to cover my work.  We had left for work but there was just no way I could make it without stopping.  I was going to be sick and needed a bathroom immediately or sooner.

A Best Buy store in a large shopping center was my only port in the storm.  Our daughter was sleeping and in my condition there was no way I could have carried her in so I made the decision to lock her securely in the car, run into the store quickly for relief, and run back out. 

I was in the store for less than 3 minutes and on the way out when I heard an announcement about a child locked in a car.  Oh no...I ran to the car and there were police and fire authorities attempting to break in to get her out.

A severe tongue lashing with more than a few threats directed at me by law enforcement ensued.  I was lucky to get out of there with nothing more than some angry police, a sick body, and a major dose of guilt for doing something that was reckless, thoughtless, and just plain stupid.

I feel bad about that incident to this day but on that day at that time I didn't feel that there were any other options.  I certainly wouldn't have entrusted her to the care of strangers and there just wasn't any other way to handle it.

[Ohio Buckeye]

Wow, Livecam, you were in an absolutely AWFUL predicament.
I feel for you.
This lady was in the school where she is asst. principal. 
I don't know how long she was in there.
I don't think she forgot her child was there.
It is being investigated but no charges have been filed.
There was a lady in our area who had a newborn and left the baby in
the grocery cart and drove away.  Hurried back when she realized what
happened.  Police were already there and being a new mother they
"sort of" understood how that happened. 
We were camping one time and the 2 boys were playing on the playground and I wanted
to run into the restroom right there by where we were and told the older boy to keep eye
on younger boy.  When I came out older boy was there, younger one was not.  We were
frantically looking for him scared cause we were camping on a bay area.  This man came along
walking with him. He was dirty and fell when he came down the slide and was looking for the
camper and went the wrong direction.  I was practically hysterical and I will NEVER forget the
incident.  Boy, the challenges life brings us.  whew!