Why do you think the incidence of leaving a child in a car is rising?

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.

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.

I have no idea. There was a story a few months ago about a guy who left his baby in his car while he went to a party, got drunk, and went home with a friend...the child was found the next day. He was alive, thankfully, but this Dad said that he *forgot* that the kids was in the car. How the hell do you *FORGET* where your child is??

In part its being so busy and living in a rat race. In part I think sometimes its laziness. People don't want to get the kids out when they are just running in the store for a minute. Then it becomes habit and then they forget.

"Seem to have more incidences" is not the same as actually having more incidences. Once something becomes a popular subject, the media is more likely to report at length on any incident, giving the appearance of more incidents than before.

So, I have my doubts about it being on the rise.

I don't really see anything wrong with it, I mean, I leave my kid in the car all day when I go to work, sometimes even longer if he makes me angry. It's all about finding the perfect balance between window cracked open and water feeder attached to the door. Sometimes he runs out of water, but hey, life's not fair, you gotta roll with it.

Because people report them now.

I guarantee that there are no more people doing so now than 10 years ago. Just more people actually reporting it.