6-month-old Texas boy dies after being left in hot car for 9 hours (death, income)
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A 6-month-old boy died after being left all day in a hot sport utility vehicle in a San Antonio-area Wal-Mart parking lot, authorities said.
His death brings the number of children who have died in hot cars in the U.S. this year to at least 27, including six in Texas, said Janette Fennell, founder and president of KidsAndCars.org, a national child safety nonprofit based in Philadelphia. That's up from last year's total of 15.
The baby's father, who works at the store in the suburb of Helotes, told officers that he forgot to drop his son off at day care before going to work about 6:15 a.m. Friday, said Helotes police Capt. Anthony Burges. The father found his child dead after finishing work and returning to the SUV about 3 p.m.
Temperatures in the area hovered around 100 degrees much of the afternoon.
The father was taken to a hospital after reporting chest pains, Burges said. No charges have been filed in the case. The name of the infant's father has not been released by authorities.
How can you forget about your baby in the back seat of your car? For 9 HOURS!!! NO CHARGES!!!!??
I think in these situations the family dynamics should be investigated and no charges filed if it appears the man was a loving father. Losing a child is punishment enough.
I think in these situations the family dynamics should be investigated and no charges filed if it appears the man was a loving father. Losing a child is punishment enough.
I think in these situations the family dynamics should be investigated and no charges filed if it appears the man was a loving father. Losing a child is punishment enough.
On the other hand, if there were actual consequences for what amounts to criminal negligence, maybe the possibility of jail time (or a big fine) would be the one element that would make parents check the back seat before walking away from their cars. The possibility of losing a child doesn't seem to be enough to make them stop focusing on themselves or their phones or whatever else is more important than their helpless child long enough to get them to take that one simple step.
On the other hand, if there were actual consequences for what amounts to criminal negligence, maybe the possibility of jail time (or a big fine) would be the one element that would make parents check the back seat before walking away from their cars. The possibility of losing a child doesn't seem to be enough to make them stop focusing on themselves or their phones or whatever else is more important than their helpless child long enough to get them to take that one simple step.
If the possibility of losing a loved one does not cause you not to forget the possibility of jail time won't either.
On the other hand, if there were actual consequences for what amounts to criminal negligence, maybe the possibility of jail time (or a big fine) would be the one element that would make parents check the back seat before walking away from their cars. The possibility of losing a child doesn't seem to be enough to make them stop focusing on themselves or their phones or whatever else is more important than their helpless child long enough to get them to take that one simple step.
What about other kids in the family and the loss of a parent to jail? Loss of income and lost income earning ability. Lots of negatives for something a good parent will never outlive.
I think the reason these things happen is no one ever thinks it could happen to them. Simply leaving your cell phone in the backseat with the child would greatly reduce these incidents.
I think the reason these things happen is no one ever thinks it could happen to them. Simply leaving your cell phone in the backseat with the child would greatly reduce these incidents.
Habits I was a bus driver. The bus I drove had a back door. If you opened it that would set the brakes. Then if you close it the brakes come off. I set up the habit of feeling if the bus was moving after I shut the doors when reaching through the window upon leaving the bus when fueling it. I also had worked out what to do if it moved. The day it moved on me I got it stopped in about 6 inches and with my heart pounding I went and set the parking brake.
The other employee that took over after I was done with that job had the bus crash into the parked semis when he made the same mistake I did. Airbags kill kids in the front seat when they go off and in the back seat when they get forgotten in the heat.
If the possibility of losing a loved one does not cause you not to forget the possibility of jail time won't either.
The point I was making was that the possibility of losing a child doesn't seem to be enough to get these self-absorbed people to think about that child for just the few seconds it would take to check the back seat, so maybe the possibility of losing their own freedom would cause them to revise their priorities and invest those few seconds in thinking about something other than themselves. They only have to devote a few seconds to prevent these tragedies, but that seems to be too much effort. If they could be certain of punishment (since the potential loss of a child doesn't seem to be enough) that would actually interfere with their own activities, maybe these children wouldn't die in this awful way.
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