Quote:

Mother faces manslaughter charge after baby left in car died A mother is expected to be charged with the manslaughter of her baby daughter after she left the infant in a car in Sydney's west. The 22-month-old girl was taken by her mother to a medical centre at Toongabbie about 4.55pm last Thursday. Medical staff attempted CPR on the baby but she was pronounced dead at the hospital. Story continues below Police believe she may have been dead for some time. They allege the child had been left unsupervised in the vehicle and died as a result of dehydration. In a statement today, police said detectives expected to charge the baby's 30-year-old mother with manslaughter.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/mother-faces-manslaughter-charge-after-baby-left-in-car-died-20111026-1mjas.html#ixzz1brBMMmfE

It is not as though people don't know how dangerous it is!

The trouble is that in hot weather it takes only a matter of minutes for a child to die when left in a car with the windows wound up.

I have had two altercations with irresponsible people in the last couple of weeks for leaving dogs in the car.

I think that because people are so used to having the a/c running all year they inadvertently think the car will remain cool even after the ignition is turned off. That's the only explanation that I can come up with.

I hope no one walked past the car and ignored what they saw. I really hope so.

Quote:

Toddler dies of dehydration after being left in car, mum bailed A WOMAN accused of killing her 22-month-old daughter has faced a Sydney court this afternoon and has been granted bail. The 31-year-old woman, who cannot be identified, sat hunched over as her lawyer Danny Eid told the court it was a "tragic and very unfortunate matter". The baby girl was presented to a medical centre at Toongabbie at about 4.55pm last Thursday by her mother after she allegedly left her unsupervised in a vehicle. Medical staff carried out CPR, but the toddler was pronounced dead. Police will allege the girl had been dead for some time. Preliminary results of a post mortem showed the toddler died as a result of dehydration. Mr Eid told the court this was the woman's first child and she has been left devastated by the child's death. "There is nothing in the facts to suggest this woman is a danger to society or a danger to her family or has deliberately harmed her baby," he said. Magistrate Sharon Holdsworth said that the woman could be granted bail if her family deposited $10,000 in cash as a surety and she reported to police daily. She was also told to surrender has passport.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/toddler-dies-of-dehydration-after-being-left-in-car-mum-to-be-charged/story-e6frfkvr-1226177514071#ixzz1brnPaKSZ

I think they need to take other precautions with her too.

That's horrible.  Dog's die from heat essentially boiling their blood and causing major organ damage; how long does a baby need to be left in the car to die of dehydration?

$10k cash surety is a bit harsh; who in their right mind would keep $10k in cash even if they did have it?

The design of modern cars (hermetically-sealed ovens, basically) must
also share some of the blame.

Kat wrote on Oct 28^th, 2011 at 7:02am:

The design of modern cars (hermetically-sealed ovens, basically) must also share some of the blame.

You're blaming the car?

How dumb can you get...... :-[ :-X

Hang her and hang her high.

FriYAY wrote on Oct 28^th, 2011 at 11:59am:

Kat wrote on Oct 28th, 2011 at 7:02am: The design of modern cars (hermetically-sealed ovens, basically) must also share some of the blame. You're blaming the car? How dumb can you get...... :-[ :-X

I do hope Kat was taking the piss here.

Kat wrote on Oct 28^th, 2011 at 7:02am:

The design of modern cars (hermetically-sealed ovens, basically) must also share some of the blame.

yep that's right,but it isn't the blimmin cars fault. you just DO NOT EVER leave your child/children even animals, in such an environment EVER.

qikvtec wrote on Oct 29^th, 2011 at 4:29pm:

FriYAY wrote on Oct 28th, 2011 at 11:59am: Kat wrote on Oct 28th, 2011 at 7:02am: The design of modern cars (hermetically-sealed ovens, basically) must also share some of the blame. You're blaming the car? How dumb can you get...... :-[ :-X I do hope Kat was taking the piss here.

Um, yes. He was.

Congratulations to the Daily Telegraph for not opening up the comments on this tragic story of a NSW mother whose toddler died last week when she left him in the car.

It would’ve been gold for hits – prodding as it does parents’ deepest fears, and the consequent desperate need to believe that the parent whose child is dead was evil, callous, stupid… anything to make them different from me… this could never happen to me… It would’ve run all day, hit after hit, with hundreds of readers fired up and pontificating to reassure themselves. They’d undoubtedly have received hundreds of comments like these (from an unrelated but similar tragedy):

   ArmyWife8297 on May 23, 2011 at 11:52 AM

   how do you forget your child? i dont care if your busy with grocerys you get the kids out first then you get your stuff, some people should not breed, these people are careless and should be punished, they can sit in jail for the rest of there lifes worthless parents

And the Daily Telegraph declined to do that. Kudos.

Kudos because this is one particular sort of tragedy where those types of comments actually endanger kids. The more the commenters find to attack the parent of the dead child, the less motivated the reader is to try to put something in place to reduce the risk. Those comments reassure parents that they don’t have to worry, that it would never happen to them, that so long as they’re not horrible criminal scum they and their kids will be safe.

Which is, sadly, not the case at all, as this devastating (Pulitzer-winning) Washington Post story from 2009 reveals:

   What kind of person forgets a baby?

   The wealthy do, it turns out. And the poor, and the middle class. Parents of all ages and ethnicities do it. Mothers are just as likely to do it as fathers. It happens to the chronically absent-minded and to the fanatically organized, to the college-educated and to the marginally literate. In the last 10 years, it has happened to a dentist. A postal clerk. A social worker. A police officer. An accountant. A soldier. A paralegal. An electrician. A Protestant clergyman. A rabbinical student. A nurse. A construction worker. An assistant principal. It happened to a mental health counselor, a college professor and a pizza chef. It happened to a pediatrician. It happened to a rocket scientist.

   Last year it happened three times in one day, the worst day so far in the worst year so far in a phenomenon that gives no sign of abating.

   The facts in each case differ a little, but always there is the terrible moment when the parent realizes what he or she has done, often through a phone call from a spouse or caregiver. This is followed by a frantic sprint to the car. What awaits there is the worst thing in the world…
So it would probably be more useful for the police to be giving more useful warnings than the only one quoted in the Tele:

   “It’s really a tragedy, I don’t know how many times we have issued warnings to people about the danger of leaving children unattended in a motor vehicle,” [Superintendent Wright] said.

You might do that, but the problem is that people assume it won’t happen to them. That they’re good parents and so their child is safe. But, as we’ve seen, that confidence may well be misplaced.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/2011/10/27/a-tragedy-where-sanctimonious-comment-threads-actually-endanger-kids/

So we’d like to leave our readers – and hope that the Daily Telegraph, after explaining to its readers that their own children are also at risk, does something similar – a list of suggested approaches to reduce the risk from CNN last year:

   How to Avoid a Hot-Car Tragedy

       First and foremost, always put your cell phone, purse, or briefcase, and anything else you’ll need that day, on the floor of the backseat. When you retrieve it at the end of the ride, you’ll notice your child.
       Seat your younger (or quieter) child behind the front passenger seat, where he’s most likely to catch your eye. Parks’, Balfour’s, and Edwards’ babies all were behind the driver’s side when they died.
       Keep a teddy bear or other stuffed animal in the car seat when it’s empty. When you put your child in the seat, move the animal to the front passenger seat, to remind you that your baby’s on board.
       Ask your child’s baby sitter or day care provider to always phone you promptly if your child isn’t dropped off as scheduled.
       Make a habit of always opening the back door of your car after you park, to check that there’s no kid back there.
       Never assume someone else — a spouse, an older child — has taken a young kid out of her seat. Such miscommunication has led to more than a few hot-car deaths.
       Invest in a device to help you remember small passengers. The Cars-N-Kids monitor plays a lullabye when the car stops and a child is in the seat ($29.95). The ChildMinder System sounds an alarm if you walk away and leave your child in the seat ($69.95).
       Put visual cues in your office and home. Static-cling decals reminding you to check the car seat are available at Emmasinspirations.com and Kidsandcars.org.

It’s a serious problem, and it deserves serious attention. Not sanctimonious finger-pointing. We’re glad that the Daily Telegraph played a straight bat, and hope it takes the further opportunity, while the tragedy is still fresh in their minds, to help its readers understand the danger. The newspaper as actual saver of lives – that’s something we’d all like to see more of.

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/2011/10/27/a-tragedy-where-sanctimonious-comment-threads-actually-endanger-kids/

Deborahmac09 wrote on Oct 26^th, 2011 at 2:02pm:

It is not as though people don't know how dangerous it is!

The woman was 30 and it was her first baby. She was totally irresponsible and she should be charged with manslaughter. Think of the toddler's suffering. People will not change their behaviour unless some heavy penalties are imposed.

It's the same with these people who reverse over their children in their 4WD's. In NSW a few weeks ago - 3 children were killed within a week this way, but parents still keep on forgetting to keep an eye on their small children.

We can't make excuses for these people any longer.

Kat wrote on Oct 31^st, 2011 at 7:17am:

qikvtec wrote on Oct 29th, 2011 at 4:29pm: FriYAY wrote on Oct 28th, 2011 at 11:59am: Kat wrote on Oct 28th, 2011 at 7:02am: The design of modern cars (hermetically-sealed ovens, basically) must also share some of the blame. You're blaming the car? How dumb can you get...... :-[ :-X I do hope Kat was taking the piss here. Um, yes. He was.

Why do we not have a sarcasm font.

mantra wrote on Oct 31^st, 2011 at 8:50pm:

Deborahmac09 wrote on Oct 26th, 2011 at 2:02pm: It is not as though people don't know how dangerous it is! The woman was 30 and it was her first baby. She was totally irresponsible and she should be charged with manslaughter. Think of the toddler's suffering. People will not change their behaviour unless some heavy penalties are imposed. It's the same with these people who reverse over their children in their 4WD's. In NSW a few weeks ago - 3 children were killed within a week this way, but parents still keep on forgetting to keep an eye on their small children. We can't make excuses for these people any longer.

When I had my first child I was 23 and paranoid, so I don't understand those who put their kids at risk at all.
and i do not move my car without my son giving the thumbs up which is our safty messege that he understands he is not to move from behind the gate and that it is safe for me to move the car. He is 10 now and still does it.

How awful. Imagine living with that guilt.



It amazes me how mothers are so quick to cut each other down.

Annie Anthrax wrote on Nov 1^st, 2011 at 7:26pm:

How awful. Imagine living with that guilt. It amazes me how mothers are so quick to cut each other down.

Imagine living with that guilt you say. People who can emagine living with that guilt go to great lenghts to try and keep their kids safe. But sometimes it is out of our hands.

Quote:

People who can emagine living with that guilt go to great lenghts to try and keep their kids safe.

Of course.

But sometimes things happen and it doesn't hurt to show some compassion for the woman who will have to live with this forever.

Annie Anthrax wrote on Nov 2^nd, 2011 at 4:38pm:

Quote: People who can emagine living with that guilt go to great lenghts to try and keep their kids safe. Of course. But sometimes things happen and it doesn't hurt to show some compassion for the woman who will have to live with this forever.

Yes sometimes accidents happen, but this was not one.
Saying I do not understand how anyone can make this mistake has nothing to do with compassion or lack of. Especially when it has happened time and time again, and the warnings again, time and time again.