Community Chat

[occasionalrain]

How is it that it's common now and rare years ago? A person protects what they value, they don't forget to go to work or to buy their lottery ticket or to watch the Game. They forget their child or pet because they are thinking about something else, something that means more to them.

[Lipstickdiva]

It's amazing to me that these people somehow manage to remember to grab their purse or cellphone or bags, etc.  but they forgot the one thing that is most important. 

[HappyDaze]

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@Lipstickdiva wrote:

It's amazing to me that these people somehow manage to remember to grab their purse or cellphone or bags, etc.  but they forgot the one thing that is most important. 

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yes, I am sure that cellphone was glued to their hand...

[ChynnaBlue]

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@HappyDaze wrote:

Sorry @ChynnaBlue but I can't ever imagine leaving a child behind, forgetting about them in a car. Ever. I don't blame the car companies for not "coming up with a solution" (why would the responsibility and blame be more on them??)- the adults responsible for those children are the ones responsible and should always check the car before the leave if they can't remember if a child may be in the car??!  I can't believe I even have to say that. There really is never an excuse to forget about a child (or pet). Ever. Forgetting your keys or your purse or whatever item in your car is not even in the same realm as forgetting about a human being or living, breathing pet.

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I didn't say the responsibility was more on them, but they have had many opportunities to save lives and have chosen to do nothing and that is always a shame.

Now parents and entrepreneurs are coming up with solutions with apps that car companies and car seat makers could have been working on but were not.

[HappyDaze]

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@ChynnaBlue wrote:

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@HappyDaze wrote:

Sorry @ChynnaBlue but I can't ever imagine leaving a child behind, forgetting about them in a car. Ever. I don't blame the car companies for not "coming up with a solution" (why would the responsibility and blame be more on them??)- the adults responsible for those children are the ones responsible and should always check the car before the leave if they can't remember if a child may be in the car??!  I can't believe I even have to say that. There really is never an excuse to forget about a child (or pet). Ever. Forgetting your keys or your purse or whatever item in your car is not even in the same realm as forgetting about a human being or living, breathing pet.

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I didn't say the responsibility was more on them, but they have had many opportunities to save lives and have chosen to do nothing and that is always a shame.

Now parents and entrepreneurs are coming up with solutions with apps that car companies and car seat makers could have been working on but were not.

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The shame is in the fact that parents left their child or pet behind. You should not need an app to remind me, in fact, if you can remember to bring your cellphone to view the app, how the hell can you not remember to BRING YOUR CHILD OR PET?

Ugh, we shouldn't be relying on apps and cars and alarms to remind us of our precious babies in our cars, If our lives are so hectic that we can't remember our babies but can remember our phone and purses something is wrong in our lives, priorities are screwed up and should be reassessed.

[ChynnaBlue]

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@Mz iMac wrote:

@ChynnaBlue

I agree w/everything in your post except for this part....

"The real shame is that car companies have been so slow to come up with solutions."

As far as I am concerned, it is not the car companies responsibility.  It is CHILD "NEGLECT."  It is the parent(s) responsibily to "PROTECT" their children.  In the county I live in & possibly the whole state, it is a CRIME to leave children under a certain age in a auto alone.  If death occurrs the parent(s) are prosecuted to the FULL EXTENT.  Besides 2nd degree murder or manslaughter they are also charged w/neglect.

In the past, the horrors of what these parents did to their children did not matter to them, as some were repeat offenders.  These children were saved by concerned citizens who called the police.

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The car companies know this is an issue, as do the child seat makers, and not one of them chose to pursue a solution.

It's not their 'responsibility', but since when does it have to be someone's responsibility in order to come up with a solution that affects so many? It takes a village and they could have done something, but they chose to ignore it and do nothing - probably because they didn't think it was their responsibility. How many lives might be saved if they did take some responsibility, not out of obligation, but because it was the right thing to do?

[happycat]

I don't understand it either. Another thing I don't understand is  why sometimes charges are filed and other times, it is called an accident or mistake and no charges are filed.

[Andreatoo]

The saddest thing I've heard in relation to the glut of hot car deaths are the tips given. 'put your phone or laptop in the back seat. Something important that you're unlikely to forget'

?????!!!!!!!!!!  The kid isn't the important thing in the back seat?!!

[ChynnaBlue]

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@occasionalrain wrote:

How is it that it's common now and rare years ago? A person protects what they value, they don't forget to go to work or to buy their lottery ticket or to watch the Game. They forget their child or pet because they are thinking about something else, something that means more to them.

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People make this assumption about a lot of things, but I haven't seen evidence to back this up. We hear about it more often now, but that's not the same as it actually happening more often. It's not.

It's the same with things like child kidnappings, which were perceived to have gone way up several years ago, but had actually fallen in number. The 24/7 news cycle just made it appear that way by shifting the focus.

In 2015, people thought that the number of officers being killed had gone way up, but the numbers were actually down.

Here's a page with the data, including a simple chart showing the numbers since 1998. http://noheatstroke.org/

[bri20]

I cannot even begin to understand forgetting your kid or pet in a car. It's incomprehensible to me. There is no justifiable excuse