Hot Cars

Ugh, please stop leaving your kids in hot cars. If I hear yet another story about this I might burst.

It seems most of the time this isn't a malicious act. For some reason it just doesn't occur to people that cars get extremely hot when the windows are closed and there's no air conditioning on. Isn't this common sense? I think one major problem is that many people don't realize how quickly a car can reach dangerous temperatures, nor do they realize how vulnerable small children are. Then there are the parents who simply forget their children are in the car, for whatever reason. Even more unfortunate are the cases of parents deliberately leaving their kids in cars for long periods while they go off and do other things, again, not realizing the dangers of the heat.

There was a case recently of a Toronto family who was visiting their relatives in Texas. It was incorrectly reported the parents had been preoccupied with their seven year old because he was having a seizure, and so forgot their two year old was in the car. Actually, the seven year old actually had autism and his parents brought him into the house to feed him because he was on a strict schedule.

I haven't read any reports that explain why neither the parents nor the four other family members who had also been in the car thought to bring the two year old into the house, leave a window open for him or come back for him? And none of these six people clued in that he was missing until TWO HOURS later! How can anyone, and so many people, be that distracted, especially when the only rush is to feed another child who isn't even having a medical emergency? Not one of those six people thought to nor had the time to take the two year old inside? And not one of them remembered he was in the car? It doesn't make sense. Don't forget we're talking about Texas heat. I keep thinking about how much that child must have suffered.

I understand that life can get chaotic. These parents obviously had a lot on their plate, but I just don't understand the excuses the media have given them. We should be sympathetic, of course. These parents lost their child and probably already feel horribly guilty. Still, that doesn't mean we shouldn't talk about this. I'm sorry, but this is a case of negligence, like so many others I've heard lately.

It's important to ask questions about what we read, hear or see on the news. Many kids are left in hot cars accidentally. I'm sure many parents have their reasons for it, like tending to another child, but why has that story garnered media sympathy and most of the other incidents have not? I'm angry the parents of the deceased two year old will not be charged.