Posted on 06/29/2006 8:59:40 AM PDT by charming_harmonica
One safeguard would be to develop the habit of always putting your briefcase or pocketbook on the floor of the back seat. Then, when you get out of the vehicle at work, you would have to open the rear door to get it.
Baby still there? Surprise . . . but alive.
"Why again, do they have to be put in the backseat, out of sight, out of mind?"
Because it's "safer".
As a kid of the late '50s, everyone my age grew up rocketing around the car like a BB in an empty coffee can, not strapped in like we were astronauts on a space launch. If we died in the car it was from the force of an accident, but never from being left behind!
I agree with you. I know I am going to get flame city on this one, but do you remember the Simpsons cartoon intro with Maggie in the front seat next to Marge? When baby seats first came out, they were used in the front seat next to mama. Good parent child bonding, too. Only some MALE who has real jealousy issues could have come up with the baby-facing-backwards-on-another-seat-row set up we have now. Now children have to be teenagers before they can ride up front next to mom. Kids have to be in car seats older each year. When it comes to car seats, I am a libertarian.
Airbags don't save lives, they kill in various ways. People are often killed in accidents that are not even serious by the airbag. The media refuse to print the facts.
My husband witnessed an accident in which the mother had been lovingly holding her baby in the passenger seat (before the days of seat belts.) The mother died, asking where her baby was. She was spared the sight of him in the glove box, but my husband wasn't.
These stories are depressingly frequent in the summer, but I don't recall any of them discussing the parent's politics.
I understand you CANNOT neglect your kid. I see this extremly unfortunate. But I feel pitty rather than anger. Looks to me that most people in this thread are lucky enough to live apart from society, and that they don't feel the pressure of having two incomes to pay the bills (and I mean just the regular bills, not for luxury items) or that anyone who is not happily married with the first spouse is evil. So I assume that the kids of all those parents here never ever had an accident. Every accident (and ACCIDENTS HAPPEN) can be seen as 'this leftist parent who doesn't take care of the kid'. Come on!. The miracle really is to reach adulthood.
To government power you mean?????
Not sure that would work. Most people leave car seats in the car and just take out baby.
We are told to put the baby in the back seat for safety reasons. The more I hear this, I think it's flawed. People put the baby in the back seat, usually behind the driver and forget they are there. Wouldn't it be safer to put the child up front where the parent sees them?
As many times as this has happened, why hasn't someone come up with an alarm that tells you the baby is still there. We have a ping ping ping if we forget to take the keys out of the ignition, and it also pings if the headlights are on. How about a ping when the seat belt is still fastened. There should be some sort of alarm in these cases.
Just thinking out loud.
It's harder to acquire a pet than a child.
Ten to one odds she was talking on a cell phone all the way to work.
The minimum height at which a child is allowed to ride without a booster seat in my state, is only two inches shorter than I am.
Take the opportunity to visit the Kids in Cars web-site. How many times does this have to happen?
I find it very interesting that people will not judge a person for an action that one could imagine doing. My theory about why judges are more lenient on drunk drivers, than drug addicts, for example, is because judges are more likely to drive after drinking, than to smoke crack.
Forgetting that you did not stop at the babysitter's is horrible. Our media have decided not to publicize this all too frequent occurence because producers, editors, and talent probably all have children that they drive in their own minivans and SUVs. We hear about what happened to one foolish girl on vacation in Aruba for more than a year now. Her story is exotic. Dead babies from middle-class parents' neglect is too close to home.
>>I am not a father (hope to be someday), but isn't your baby kinda the center of your universe. How could you forget such a thing?<<
It's quite possible, actually. The problem is, the human mind is not perfect. It is possible to forget something extremely important to you. It is possible to go through the whole day thinking a thing has been done when it hasn't. Only when you realize the consequences of the fact do you remember that you didn't do that thing.
On rare occasion, this can have tragic consequences. Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often.
>>I understand you CANNOT neglect your kid. I see this extremly unfortunate. But I feel pitty rather than anger. Looks to me that most people in this thread are lucky enough to live apart from society, and that they don't feel the pressure of having two incomes to pay the bills (and I mean just the regular bills, not for luxury items) or that anyone who is not happily married with the first spouse is evil. So I assume that the kids of all those parents here never ever had an accident. Every accident (and ACCIDENTS HAPPEN) can be seen as 'this leftist parent who doesn't take care of the kid'. Come on!. The miracle really is to reach adulthood.<<
You saved me some time. I can merely repost what you said. And I heartily agree.
Shouldn't be sending an infant to daycare anyway.
Raise your own damn children, people!
I always put my child behind the passenger seat. Easier to see and reach.
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