Why do you think the incidence of leaving a child in a car is rising?
Every year we seem to have more and more incidences of parents forgetting their children in hot cars. For the past 2 years, we have had at least 3 occurrances just in our area, and over 10 in our state. Just yesterday it happened again with a 6 month old left for 9 hours in a hot car. Of course, she died.
I'm not judging the parents, but I just wonder, why do you think this is on the rise? Are parents too busy, multi-tasking, not putting their kids first?
What's your opinion?
c c2011-03-09T09:14:35Z
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I think three things are going on here: 1) Parents are getting busier and busier and are 'overwhelmed' with 'stuff' on their minds, so they *may* be more prone to 'forgetting.'
2) More and more people HAVE cars and work outside the home so they need to drop off children at daycares. If one parent usually does it but their "routine' is disrupted (other parent doing the drop off, errands on the way to daycare, worry about 'stuff') then the incidences are more likely to occur. I think also that it used to be that the child was forgotten while the parent popped into a store for a few minutes, not all day. I think the 'all day' incidences are a result of more and more parents needing to work outside the home.
3) These events are more likely to be widely reported. I think they have always happened, since cars were invented, but were less likely to be picked up on news reports, internet news sites, etc. So we are just hearing about them more.
If you've noticed, society and man in general have become less aware, less in tune with their morals or morals in general, and people seem to care less and less about what matters in this world.
I would NEVER leave my child in the car. Sometimes I have to run back into the house because I forgot something but I TAKE HER WITH ME> it isn't worth the list of consequences you and your child could suffer. I'm judging the parents. Yes... unless they have a mental disorder and couldn't comprehend that what they're doing can lead to death, abduction, or other, in which case they need supervision, then they are at 100% fault. I feel like there had to be a time when they made the decision to first leave their baby in the car where they weren't sure if it was a good idea. Don't you think?
I think some parents are just getting more and more ignorant and lazy.
I have a 10 month old son so yes...i know what a hassle it can be getting your child out and then getting them back in. Especially when you're doing errands and it becomes annoying and tedious doing it over and over and over again. But leaving them in cars alone is DANGEROUS. Cars can get extremely hot, extremely quickly in the summer. Not to mention, anybody can come along and just take the car or the kid. Nobody should be stupid enough to take that risk.
the only time i ever leave my daughter in the car is if i run inside the house really quick to grab something. but when i do that, i turn my car starter on and lock the doors. that way no one can get in the car but me and either the heat or the air is on so my daughter isnt hot or cold. i never leave her alone in the car for more than a few minutes.
9 hours is just ridiculous. i hope the parents are charged with murder.
mommy of two precious little girls.2011-03-09T09:08:42Z
i always hear the excuse "i don't normally take them and i forgot they were in the car" on the news. i think about my daughter every minute of the day, i couldn't forget her for no amount of time in a car. i live in florida and i've sat in a car during the summer for 10 minutes and been burning up so i can't imagine a baby being left for hours.
i also heard of a day care van driver leaving an infant in the car because she wasn't used to picking the child up. as a mother that makes me wonder who these people are hiring at child care facilities. making a mistake is one thing but making one that kills a child is ridiculous.