Reader comments
Stress can be factor in leaving kid in car

CP | 4:18 a.m. July 28, 2008

I really think that Utah needs to have a class in every city about Kids and Cars to teach those responsible for very small children methods to use to remember to check the backseat before getting out of a car. So these unfortunate deaths of small children can be avoided.

I forgot? | 6:39 a.m. July 28, 2008

Forgetting your kid for 5 minutes while you absentmindedly go to the grocery store I can understand. Forgetting your kid in the car for 9 hours is a different matter altogether. Thinking you can leave your kid in your car while you catch the midnight showing of Batman is criminal.

Ideas | 7:00 a.m. July 28, 2008

I think something should be done. A class, or reminders at the hospital--like the "Never Shake a Baby" campaign. I think car manufacturers can come up with something, too--the way they have with release latches inside a trunk, back-up monitors, and airbags. Surely they can put a sensor in all rear seats that lets a parent know if something or someone is still sitting in a car seat after the car stops running and the doors are closed. Or infant and booster seat manufacturers can put a thermometer and weight sensor in car seats, with a key-ring attachment that will give a warning beep.

Comments continue below

M. Allred -- Technology | 7:42 a.m. July 28, 2008

The car manufacturers may want to consider technology that when pressure (weight) continues on the rear seat, or the child restraint safety belt latch remains connected, an alarm or buzzer will sound. Additional technology can be the car can't be locked if pressure remains on the rear seat or the child restraint safety belt remains latched.

Denise | 7:45 a.m. July 28, 2008

On a similar note as using drive through windows, I appreciate that gas stations have a way to swipe cards so I never have to leave the children (or unpack them.)

I am glad someone is being practical about helping parents remember. It will help.

Animals Too | 9:06 a.m. July 28, 2008

I'm a 911 dispatcher, I take calls on dogs left in cars several times a day! - It's a 100 degrees outside- inside over 120 - The suffering after just a minute or two left in a car is unimaginable, please leave your pets at home!

No Excuse | 9:37 a.m. July 28, 2008

There is no excuse for these people! It is disgusting to try to shed light on why they have left their children in cars to die. I am a single father, I work 2 jobs, take care of my children, balance an insane life and still have never left my children in the car to bake to death. I am not alone in my situation. People need to stop being so self-absorbed and pay attention...it's their freaking kids!

Responsibility | 10:01 a.m. July 28, 2008

Educating people is great. Trying to great car manufacturers to use technology to remind us of things and make our lives ï¿½easierï¿½ is inventive. Ultimately it is the responsibility of the parents, not the health care industry, not the government and not Nissan, Honda, Ford, or GMC to ensure that we as parents donï¿½t ï¿½forgetï¿½ our kids. I have 4, and put them all in back seats. When they are not making noise that would wake the dead, then I relish in the few moments of quiet before I stop the car and get them out. There is no excuse to ï¿½forget your kidsï¿½. That is just another American line to lay the blame on someone else instead of taking responsibility. The CEO and Hospital Administrator that ï¿½forgotï¿½ their kids would lose their livelihood id they used that excuse at work. Wake up people and focus on more than getting to the next point in life. No excuse. All should be prosecuted the same.

To "No Excuse" | 10:10 a.m. July 28, 2008

When something tragic happens, like the death of a child or even worse--the preventable death of a child, people try to find ways to explain it for two reasons. One is to try and make sense of the horror for our own sakes and the other is to try and prevent such things in the future. I don't think trying to explain why something happens constitutes an excuse for it happening. Because there are people paying attention to child hyperthermia deaths and trying to figure it out, it may very well lead to ways to prevent this in the future.

And I admire you for being able to cope as a single parent, especially with two jobs. Thank you for taking care of your children. You probably don't get enough kudos for a hard job. (And I mean that in complete seriousness--I'm not trying to be sarcastic at all. Single parenthood is a tough row to how.)

To "No Excuse" 2 | 10:22 a.m. July 28, 2008

I mean "row to hoe." Don't get after me for that, okay?

brerabbit | 10:37 a.m. July 28, 2008

It's time to get rid of OSHA and all of it's insane regulations. Up untill our government established that agency with all of its regulations, designed to save the lives of idiots who would not exercise a lick of common sense, most of these were dead. Now they live on to produce and train more just like them.

Own Up | 10:50 a.m. July 28, 2008

The predominate church encourages young women to marry early & immediately start having kids. 6 kids by the time your 30? Who can handle that load? Put 'em on Prozac & they'll survive. How about the Relief Society conducting Child Awareness classes that are MANDATORY?

why not.. | 11:00 a.m. July 28, 2008

have a device/buzzer to warn you that your baby is in car when u get out...like the one that beeps to turn your head lights off??

ultragrampa | 11:05 a.m. July 28, 2008

I've been a member of the "predominate" church all my life and am a little familiar with their doctrine and teachings. I have not found the place in our teachings where I - or any of the rest of us - are encouraged to "marry early & immediately start having kids;" not "6 by 30" nor any other number by any other age. Please enlighten me as to where you get your information. Or is this just your opinion and you really don't know whom it is you criticize? The church is awesome; taking uninformed pot-shots at it isn't an effective argument for your case.

Palebear | 11:19 a.m. July 28, 2008

Don't blame the "predominant church." I am a member of that church and got married at 30, my husband was 35 (first and only marriage for both of us), and we had our first child after 2 years of marriage. We stopped at 3 because that was the right thing for us. And we are considered active in all aspects of the church. Yes the church encourages us to get married and have kids, but no one now encourages us to get married early and have a large number of kids. That is an old story.

Plus, there are plenty of people who are not members of the LDS church who are responsible for leaving children in a hot car. And the Relief Society, by its definition and very nature, could very well teach such classes. Relief Society tries to offer help and relief.

The point is that too many children have died in hot cars. Maybe training is an answer, and we should take it from any source willing to offer it, whether it be churches of any denomination or community classes or hospitals before sending babies home.

Got it from a fortune cookie | 11:26 a.m. July 28, 2008

ultragrampa,

"I've been a member of the "predominate" church all my life and am a little familiar with their doctrine and teachings. I have not found the place in our teachings where I - or any of the rest of us - are encouraged to "marry early & immediately start having kids;" not "6 by 30" nor any other number by any other age."

This is a figment of his imagination. No teaching of the Church says that we need to marry early and have lots of children.

"Please enlighten me as to where you get your information."

He got it from a fortune cookie from Panda Express which said "the predominant religion teaches that you should marry early and have lots of children."

Baffled | 12:15 p.m. July 28, 2008

For crying out loud - what does religion have to do with this?

You know, I had ZERO sympathy for people who left their kids in cars prior to having a baby last year, but now - while I couldn't imagine doing such a thing, I can definitely understand how it happens.

It's "just for a second" - and then you get sidetracked. It's a complete change in routine. It's lack of sleep or stress or a million other little things that catch us off guard for a few seconds.

Yes, it's wrong and heartbreaking for those who don't intentially do it. But to those who do it on purpose (leaving your kid in a car to see a movie? Does the parent have no common sense?!) ... the book should be thrown hard and heavy. There is NO excuse for intentionally leaving your child for that long.

Regardless, "Own up" is just looking to start a fight - that comment has nothing to do with the content of the story.

Caution | 12:19 p.m. July 28, 2008

Please don't turn this into a church-bashing discussion. It's about the kids, not the religions.

Fred | 12:40 p.m. July 28, 2008

"Predominant church" has nothing to do with it. Where I live, no member of the LDS Church has ever left a child in a hot car to die. They all belong to another religion here, the "predominant church" in our area, which I see no need to name.

Californian | 1:31 p.m. July 28, 2008

Why does every thread on every topic imaginable have to turn into either Mormon-bashing or immigrant-bashing? Doesn't anyone have anything better to do? Maybe you need to have some of those church callings that you like to mock, so you'll have less time on your hands to get into mischief.

Do Catholics, Jews, Baptists, Unitarians, or atheists ever leave their kids in a car to die of heatstroke? Probably--maybe even in Utah, where they aren't the "predominant church." Even if they did, who among the DesNews posters would automatically, instinctively, reflexively (like Pavlov's droolng dogs) bring religion into your speculation about why their kids were left in the car.

As for "forgetting," I also have trouble with this concept. We don't "forget" our keys when we walk out of the house or car. We double-check to be sure we have our wallet or cell phone. How can people forget the most important thing of all, the greatest responsibility in their life? Not to say there may not be extenuating reasons, but it does make me wonder.

Grace | 1:34 p.m. July 28, 2008

I once left a baby in the car for about 20 minutes in a hot Las Vegas sun because I forgot about the baby. By the grace of God she was OK. I know what this article is talking about with memory lapses, etc. I could never judge anyone who forgets because I do have memory lapses, especially when I am stressed We are not all made the same, neither are we in the same physical condition. After that I always kept my purse in the back seat because that was something that I always took with me. I usually did not take the baby to the store with me.

Some smart alec will reply rudely to this, but I want others to know that we are all human - yet we are all different also. I thank God for my blessings.

Anonymous | 2:23 p.m. July 28, 2008

Being drunk could also be an excuse for leaving the kids in the car, but it would be unacceptable. Owning a child should present a much much high exam than owning a car or dog or gun. It does not. Anyone with the right equipment is up to bat.

low tech solution | 9:06 p.m. July 28, 2008

If you are so mentally impaired that you can't keep track of your helpless child, why not stick a post it note on your steering wheel or the door to your house or anywhere else that might to useful in helping you remember your first and foremost responsibility.

Elizabeth | 9:16 p.m. July 28, 2008

Some people are not meant to have children. If you don't want the responsibility, don't have them!

dj | 9:23 p.m. July 28, 2008

I forgot my keys several times when I was pregnant the first time. Locked myself out of the house many times and out of the car a few. Once it was running, not sure how I managed that. I ended up with three sets of keys so I didn't do it again.

No, forgetting is no excuse. I didn't hear the author of the article say it was. But any tips to be a better parent are helpful to even the BEST parent.

The One | 11:49 p.m. July 28, 2008

I know a woman who left her 2-year-old girl in "time out" in a storage closet and forgot about her for about 10 days. It turned out that the kid survived by eating bugs and a mouse that she caught.

tahnemus | 2:14 p.m. July 29, 2008

that is absurd, a two year old has no concept of insects or rodents being food. further, no child can survive more than a few days without water (especially locked in a closet breathing ammonia from its own urine). come on.

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