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I didn't realize so many people didn't realize. Not familiar with what is/was a fairly common method of suicide?
I do feel for the dad, I can't even begin to imagine the horrors he must be going through mentally.
While I'm sure many are somewhat familiar with the dangers of carbon monoxide and running cars, quite a few of us wouldn't have known to check a potentially blocked tailpipe. Even one poster above admitted as such. After all, such suicides are done by usually routing some tubing from the exhaust pipe to the car door window.
Just a tragic accident. I think the idea of some monoxide monitors isn't a bad idea especially in older cars and in colder regions.
I didn't realize so many people didn't realize. Not familiar with what is/was a fairly common method of suicide?
I do feel for the dad, I can't even begin to imagine the horrors he must be going through mentally.
I think a lot of people realize leaving a car running in a closed in area like a garage is an absolute no no. But out in the open? I don't think that would typically cross the minds of most people. Especially since it seems they were in the car while he was scraping off the snow, something many people do. I know on cold days I'll sit in the car with the heater running if I'm out and about and waiting for somebody. How many may drink a cup of coffee in their car while the engine is warming up? I don't give a crap if someone says "well modern cars there is no need to bla, bla, bla..." I know I, personally, can't stand driving around while frozen and shivering so I wait until the truck warms up and gets nice and toasty before driving away!
Also, many of us don't live in places where large snow storms are common enough to have it be automatic to check certain areas of the car, such as those living by the great lakes or Alaska perhaps. This storm was one of the biggest snowfalls reported in many areas on the east coast so I'm sure many didn't know what to do. I feel I am one who is pretty aware of things when it comes to vehicles and what to do/not do but I would have probably done the same thing. And I bet many others would have as well, including those saying that the guy should have never done that and they would have never done that. I mean, how many actually check their tailpipes. I recon many don't even know what a tailpipe is!
I guess in reality, the car probably had a leaky exhaust so being clogged on one end just prermitted all the exhaust to escape in assorted sections under the body in which it entered the car through various seems and perhaps rust holes as it may/sounds like it was an older car (didn't re-read the OP while writing this). And since the snow was deep, it probably was piled up past the rockers and bumpers, effectively closing in under the car so the exhaust could not escape. Basically just like sitting in a garage.
Total negligence on the parents' part. If you own a car, you should know the basics of how it works and the dangers associated with it. (Not just a car, but anything in particular). No family should have to go through this.
Fortunately, this would never happen to you or yours, since you don't make mistakes and can clearly foresee the consequences of any and all your actions, including those never before taken.
Honestly, if I moved up north with my wife and kids, I might not have thought about the exhaust gas creeping into the interior. It doesn't snow a lot where we currently live, and while both my wife and I have lived in snowy parts, I didn't own a car as there was enough public transportation to get around without it.
The point is, there are quite a few possible contributors to how this happened. Saying the father was negligent for not knowing what he didn't know is absurd and spiteful. Instead of requiring a carbon monoxide sensor inside all cars, why not just have PSAs in the Northern parts where snow (and digging out of snow) is a part of life. A quick 15 second notice on tv and radio to remind people to leave the windows a crack open if they have their family in a running car could have prevented something like this.
It doesn't even take a clogged tailpipe. If you park a running car in an area with very still air and no natural place for the exhaust to go, it is possible for the gasses to 'pool' around the vehicle and kill the occupants, even with the windows open. High snowbanks would be one example.
It doesn't even take a clogged tailpipe. If you park a running car in an area with very still air and no natural place for the exhaust to go, it is possible for the gasses to 'pool' around the vehicle and kill the occupants, even with the windows open. High snowbanks would be one example.
This happens every large snowstorm and it is usually because not everyone knows the danger. It you are not used to big snowstorms you really may not know.
There was another guy who died this way in the Bronx (?) who HAD dug out his car, and was sitting in it waiting for it to warm up when a snowplow came down his street and re-buried the car with him in it. They didn't find him until the next day.
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