Kids in cars (vent)

Rappel

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 3:24 pm

imorethanamother wrote:

Every single year, someone brings this up regarding hot cars and people having too many children. And every year, someone trots out this article. Read it. And then come back and tell me it's because of birth control.

https://www.washingtonpost.com.....af94b

In the meantime, just pray that this never happens to you.

Oh. My. G-d.

I just made myself read the whole article. I cried buckets.

amother

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 5:19 pm

imorethanamother wrote:

Wow, I just read this from start to finish... it's heartbreaking and eye opening, to say the least.
While I understand that there's no actual correlation between large families or overworked mothers and leaving kids in the car, I still think people should plan their families better, and insist on husbands stepping up to the plate for various other reasons. I'm sure no one would disagree that these two subjects are somewhat hourly of control.
I will also say that my original opinion stems from this thought process: if it could happen to anyone, even the most organized and doting parents who have it all together and have only 1 or 2 children, then I think the probability goes up when the parents are more overwhelmed and distracted. So we need to seriously drill this into our heads so that it shouldn't c"v happen anymore. I don't think an app or a texting service is the right way to go about remedying this issue, because it takes the responsibility off your mind. One might think subconsciously "I'll get the reminder text" but what if the text doesn't come through? What if you're on the phone while it comes and you don't see the notification? What if you just swipe the notification away and forget about it? It can happen! We need to each make our own reminders, alarms, simanim, whatever it takes!
I remember reading an article either suggesting this technology or reporting on it, but the idea was to put an alarm into the car that beeps if the back seatbelts are still clicked in. Much like the car beeps incessantly when your seatbelts isn't strapped and the car is in drive. I think it would be a wonderful, simple and dare I say foolproof way to prevent further tragedies.

imorethanamother

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 5:40 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I remember reading an article either suggesting this technology or reporting on it, but the idea was to put an alarm into the car that beeps if the back seatbelts are still clicked in. Much like the car beeps incessantly when your seatbelts isn't strapped and the car is in drive. I think it would be a wonderful, simple and dare I say foolproof way to prevent further tragedies.

Yes. There are no shortage of companies working on reminders to help this problem. Another strategy is to leave your purse next to the car seat.

What was frightening about the article is that reminder calls from day car and car alarms didn't help, because in the parent's mind, they had already "checked off" the "take baby to xxx" on the checklist.

amother

Taupe

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 7:37 pm

I once left my child in a boiling car with no windows open - it was over 90 degrees outside.
I didn’t have too many kids and am a super controlling responsible mom.
But. We were going away that day, had guests over, miscommunicated about who was in the car and it could’ve ended with a fatality.
Thank gd we found him in time and I think about it every.single.hot.day.
I immediately realized that if it happened to me, it could happen to anyone.

ectomorph

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 8:43 pm

tymama wrote:

I recently gave a lady a piece of you mind for leaving her sleeping kids in the car alone while it was running. She literally thought I was off my rocker. No clue where I was coming from. Just wanted to wring her neck. Some women just don’t pay attention. Nothing to do with how many kids you have

I'd be worried about kidnapping, but that's not dangerous. What would be dangerous is if she turned off the car. She's not walking away without her car...

My strategy is that I open every door each time I exit the car, even if I'm alone. I have multiple toddlers and an inconsistent schedule, so I'd rather be in this habit than chv....

amother

Teal

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 8:45 pm

tymama wrote:

I've never met anyone who thinks leaving your kids in the car alone is ok. She's definitely a rarity

mommyla

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 9:01 pm

tymama wrote:

I've done that. More than once, unfortunately. I even had a stranger ask me to watch her kids in the car in the parking lot while she ran an errand Surprised

and she thought that I was the crazy one when I told her off.

ectomorph wrote:

I'd be worried about kidnapping, but that's not dangerous. What would be dangerous is if she turned off the car. She's not walking away without her car...

The kids can put the car into drive (I personally witnessed this happening twice). They can open windows and get strangled when they stick their heads out. The car can shut off unexpectedly and they'll broil. Leaving the car running isn't any better than leaving it off!

singleagain

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 9:06 pm

mommyla wrote:

I remember when I was a kid.. prob between 8-10. My mom went out of the car for two seconds at carpool to talk to the other mom .. don't know what possessed me, but I either jumped into or leaned over to turn the steering wheel. Car was in park and didn't go anywhere but I remember my mom yelling. Not that I'm older, I realize it was prob from fear... And I wasn't even considered a wild kid.

amother

Mustard

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 9:48 pm

mommyla wrote:

My mother's brother put the car into drive when he was left for a few minutes. He was 4 and it was the early 60s, so manual transmission and not that easy to do (I wouldn't know how to do it now as an adult!) Kal vachomer nowadays, where it's all automatic transmission, it's not that hard at all...

Ema of 5

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 10:02 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I actually made a habit of always turning Waze on even if I know exactly how to get to my destination for this reason exactly. Also, I agree that leaving your purse in the backseat is not an indication that you value it more than your child.

I’m pretty sure it only works if you set a trip, not if you just have waze open. Waze drains my battery, so if I don’t need it, I don’t usually have it open.

Ema of 5

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 10:04 pm

amother [ Scarlet ] wrote:

Protocal. Some moms are abusive/neglectful/not fit to be a parent. Shes gonna have to prove her case.

It is not protocol. There is usually a reason they choose to press charges, as normally this is not done on purpose, and they don’t usually press charges. I’m curious why they are charging the mother and not the father. Does anyone know what she is being chardmged with? I saw an article a couple of weeks ago, but I didn’t read the whole thing.

Last edited by Ema of 5 on Mon, Jul 01 2019, 10:16 pm; edited 1 time in total

Ema of 5

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 10:11 pm

tymama wrote:

That’s a different issue though. Also, how old were the kids? I do know people who will leave their kids in a running car, for a few minutes, but not little kids. There needs to be an older, responsible kid.

ectomorph

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 10:19 pm

mommyla wrote:

My kids can't get out of their car seats - none of them are big enough for a booster. So that possibility didn't occur to me. I guess it depends what age.

amother

Tangerine

Mon, Jul 01 2019, 11:31 pm

imorethanamother wrote:

I'm very sensitive right now and based on the comments, I'm not sure I can read this article. Can someone summarize it?