Jailing parents after tragedy tough call - Baby died after being left in hot car in Texas

The Dallas Morning News ^ | July 11, 2002 | By CURTIS HOWELL / The Dallas Morning News

[GovernmentShrinker]

I'm curious ... I'm not a parent, so I'm not up to date on the details of all the insane government regulations about how your own child is allowed to ride in your own car, but are infants required to be in the back seat in many states? I know older children, who are not riding in special car seats, are. If so, has there been an increase in these forgotten-in-the-car infant deaths that correlates with government decrees aimed at protecting children? My mother would never have dreamed of putting me in the back seat at any age, unless the front seat was occupied by someone else, but I gather it is now common for infants to ride in the back seat while their driving parent sits up front alone. Out of sight, out of mind, you know. Have ANY of these forgotten children been in the front seat? I'm quite sure that infant carseats either already exist or could be designed to be quite safe in the front seat, keeping the infant below windshield level, and protected from those insane airbags (which I will NEVER have in a car of mine).

[smith288]

I can see how this isnt malicious but a drunk driver isnt malicious euther when he is driving home and kills a 2 yr old...he is still thrown in jail and a book thrown at him. No difference in my book.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Nah, get rid of the vile air bags altogether. Parents who can forget their child is in the car will rarely remember to turn off the air bag.

[splach78]

The back seat is the safest place for a child because there is less of a chance of them being hit with projectiles. A lot of cars do not have switches to turn off the air bags. If an infant under one year old is placed, rear-facing, in the front seat of a car with an airbag, the force of the airbag can cause an infant seat to shatter, or stop the seat from "cocooning" (flipping toward the seat back) properly and protecting the child from projectiles. A child over one year of age and 20 pounds MAY be placed in the front seat, forward-facing only. The seat must be as far away from the airbag as possible because the force of it would be too much on their little bodies. The back seat is still the safest though.

[smith288]

Have ANY of these forgotten children been in the front seat?

I have NEVER forgotten about my kid in the back seat either. Why is this such a difficult thing to remember your own kid, your own flesh and blood is still in your car??? Are people this incredibly dumb?

[Sloth]

I can see how this isnt malicious but a drunk driver isnt malicious euther

Personally, I think drunk drivers are pretty malicious -- it's like going out and shooting a gun in random directions.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Also, I think we need laws specifically exempting any legal action against a person who smashes a window of a car when the doors are locked and a young child is inside. Seconds count in very hot conditions, and the delay involved in calling the police to come and smash the window may result in brain damage or death which wouldn't otherwise have occurred. As it is, people no doubt hesitate -- is it really too hot to wait for police? is the child just sleeping and in no distress and the mother ran into the store and will be back out in a minute or two? Everybody should know it's absolutely A-okay to smash the window immediately, and THEN call police. When headlines in local papers about such window-smashings become routine, it'll help people remember.

[smith288]

But not exhausted truck drivers and parents who cant think straight enough to remember of their child is in the car?

[GovernmentShrinker]

A child over one year of age and 20 pounds MAY be placed in the front seat

This is not true in all states. Some states have laws requiring children as old as 12 to ride in the back seat.

[MeekOneGOP]

I know. She will have to live with what she did for the rest of her life.
It's hard to imagine it could happen. It is tragic, imho......

[splach78]

I am not familiar with the laws in every state. I was just saying in general that you can place a forward facing car seat in the front seat.

[Sloth]

Exhaustion might well be equally negligent in some cases, but it's often acquired naturally through external, uncontrollable circumstances, and some people are simply prone to forgetfulness. Drunkenness is typically acquired purely by irresponsible choices, however.

[Brownie74]

How many does that make now? It's becoming an epidemic around here!!

I never left my kids in the car. Where I went, they went. They were always ready to go with me anyway. (They were afraid they would miss out on an ice cream cone or something.) I couldn't forget them if I tried.

[smith288]

Agreed, I would be willing to give this parent the benefit of the doubt if the job told her they will fire her if she fails to show up or something like that, but if im dozing off at the wheel or cant remember where my kid is 5 minutes ago, I must resign the fact that im incapable and should do the right thing.

[WyldKard]

Gov,

I'm sorry but I agree with hunyb. Complacency is no excuse when you are talking about children that small. If you are living a life so rough that you forget about your own children in the back of your car, perhaps it's time to reevaluate how you are living your life....

[iconoclast]

There seems to be a double standard that applies when upscale yuppies cook their kids opposed to when it's done by "trailer trash" or "inner city" folks.

Thinkin' the same thing.

[iconoclast]

The woman who had her hair done, knowingly left those kids in the car. That adds up to murder in my book.

However, this woman in the story claims she thought she had dropped the child off at daycare, so it doesn't look like she intended to leave him in the car.

Lemme see ... the first woman is an airhead 1st class, the second one is an airhead 2nd? class .... and you'd be what? ;-)

[Texas Mom]

How about less clueless parents who are taught how to care for their kid. Just a thought.

That too. As I said earlier, I can't imagine the 'I thought I left him a daycare' defense.

People are in such a hurry to get to wherever they are going, they just don't think.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I totally agree. There are many parents who are living ridiculously harried lives in pursuit of material luxury and social status, and they ought to be subjected to the harshest criticism, and to harsh punishment if their child is seriously harmed as a direct result. However, there are also parents who are overworked and underslept because circumstances beyond their control have put them in really tight financial condition, and they are trying as hard as they can to support themselves and their children, and improve their circumstances. Those are the ones for whom I think discretionary leniency is appropriate.