2018 Hot Car Deaths

[Mike]

It’s a double edged sword. If we call, we could possibly be assuming responsibility. If we don’t, we could posibly assuming responsibility.

You hit the nail on the head there. It's just a little extra precaution, as long as that's all it is.

[nannyde]

I have a bit of a theory as to why this is happening more. It is not being distracted, in my opinion. It is being dissociated from reality. In a variety of ways. When we scroll through facebook, when we outsource our responsibilities, ect. I think the current state of daycare is a very important piece of the equation. Let me see if I can explain.

The other day, in a current thread, there was a link to an old thread on the topic. I went to it and of course, after reading it, I went on to read about 30 more, because the archives just suck you right in!:: The main theme (most of these were from the 2011 timeframe) was that kids spend more time in daycare than they do with their parents. A very common theme were kids at daycare open to close, every day, who would go home and be put to bed. The amount of awake time with the parent is getting less and less. We already know this is not good for the child, but I am curious as to how it effects the parent. This may be one of the effects. I don't think it is intentional, but I do think that it can be a result of habitual absence from your child. A mild and temporary form of dissociation is also called "daydreaming". Now, if you have children and are around your kids, you know that the luxury of daydreaming is very rare. They snap you back into reality every 15-30 seconds or so. If you are not around them, you can daydream to your brain's content. I wonder if parents who spend long hours away from their child every day are in a sort of altered state of reality for such a long period of time, that it transfers to the time they are actually with their children as well, hence forgetting your kid. As a nation, we have normalized the outsourcing of our parenting responsibilities to the point that we forget we are parents, even when we are with our children. It is kind of mind boggling. I think the chemistry of the brain plays a huge factor, but in terms of accountability, maybe parents need to be scared into coming back to reality. I know that daycare is our bread and butter, but I wish that when people got pregnant, their first concern was not about which daycare to send them too once they are born. Every single one of the stories listed in the OP would have been prevented if that was the case.

Anyways, this is just my theory and opinion on how we prioritize life in 2018. It kind of doesn't shock me anymore that kids are forgotten, since it is hard to remember something that you are rarely around. If parents had to feel the full impact of 24 hour care of their child, I think it would be incredibly hard to forget your child. They literally become a part of your normal, because they are the REALITY. We are parents 24/7, but I DO think daycare allows parents to check out for a very long period of that time, and maybe that messes with the brain chemistry and leads to these types of incidences.

Brilliant post

I do wonder, if your hypothesis shows contributing factors why we don't see the same number of deaths in the deep winter in the cold states?

[DaveA]

Brilliant post

I do wonder, if your hypothesis shows contributing factors why we don't see the same number of deaths in the deep winter in the cold states?

My guess is a large part of it is the thermodynamics of the situations. The very thing that makes cars so lethal in summer (well insulated, absorbing large amounts of solar energy through windows) is a benefit in the winter. Cars probably cool down slower than they heat up. Plus even though they shouldn't, many/ most parents put kids in car seats wearing coats, further insulating the child.

Look at it this way- Lets say a person spends one hour in a car in a parking lot that changed 40 degrees from room temperature. In the summer that is 112 degrees, which can be lethal quickly to a child. In the winter that is 32 degrees- still potentially lethal, but at a much slower rate. It also reached 112 much faster than it reached 32, meaning more time at extreme temps. Plus in the summer you add the additional aspect of dehydration due to heavy sweating.

[nannyde]

"And although it's true that the calamitous effects of leaving a kid in the car are statistically more pronounced in the warmer months, the fact that fewer children die in cars during winter compared to summer does not mean that the worry should wane completely, because it does happen year-round."


"According to NoHeatStroke.org, 700 kids have died in stationary cars from 1998 through the end of October 2016. That's a devastating number of children losing their lives in avoidable tragedies (most caregivers don't realize they've forgotten to drop their children off at daycare, for example, until it's too late), and the number of lurid instances that make headlines each year is somehow climbing, rather than receding, even as each new case ostensibly increases awareness about this issue."

"because the issue simply doesn't get the attention that it does during the months of high sunshine as the when the snow starts coming down. That makes sense, to an extent, because the deaths are concentrated in April through September. In 2015, for example, there was a total 24 instances resulting in kids dying in cars. There was one each in April and May, six in June, three in July, and eight in August, followed by five in September, according to statistics compiled by NoHeatStroke.org. But there are noted instances of a child dying during each calendar month. It's happened most in July since 1998, with around nine occurrences during that month on average. The most that ever happened in November were three in 2006; It happened one time each in December 2009 and 2012."

"The only recorded instance of a kid-left-in-the-car death in January was in 2016, when a Georgia grandmother purposely left her baby grandson in her vehicle for more than five hours while she visited with friends. The 13-month-old ultimately died of hypothermia in the car, which had been left in direct sunlight with the heat cranked up against the outside temperature of 53 degrees."

https://www.romper.com/p/why-do-babi...to-say-9170098

I wonder if the deaths in the cold months could be more in the warmer climate states who have unseasonably hot days at times?

I also wonder if the cooler months have as many instances but the child doesn't die from it and once discovered, it isn't turned in?

[Rockgirl]

I also wonder if the cooler months have as many instances but the child doesn't die from it and once discovered, it isn't turned in?

That was my first thought.

Dave’s theory makes total sense.

[nannyde]

My guess is a large part of it is the thermodynamics of the situations. The very thing that makes cars so lethal in summer (well insulated, absorbing large amounts of solar energy through windows) is a benefit in the winter. Cars probably cool down slower than they heat up. Plus even though they shouldn't, many/ most parents put kids in car seats wearing coats, further insulating the child.

Look at it this way- Lets say a person spends one hour in a car in a parking lot that changed 40 degrees from room temperature. In the summer that is 112 degrees, which can be lethal quickly to a child. In the winter that is 32 degrees- still potentially lethal, but at a much slower rate. It also reached 112 much faster than it reached 32, meaning more time at extreme temps. Plus in the summer you add the additional aspect of dehydration due to heavy sweating.

Do you think the total number of kids "forgotten" is the same in all months but we don't hear about the ones that survive because they aren't reported to the state, they are reported but it is handled as a child neglect case, or the news doesn't catch wind of it?

I'm trying to square how, if it is distraction and parental alienation due to not caring for them when they are awake, that there are more instances in certain months.

If there are not then we need to figure out what the cooler months and cold months do to parents that makes them not forget that doesn't happen in the hot months.

[DaveA]

Do you think the total number of kids "forgotten" is the same in all months but we don't hear about the ones that survive because they aren't reported to the state, they are reported but it is handled as a child neglect case, or the news doesn't catch wind of it?

I'm not sure about the total numbers being similar but if I had to guess I would say it is probably consistent.

I think a big part of that is there has correctly been a lot of time, effort, and money spent on the dangers of hot cars and children. So someone dealing with a child found alive in a hot car is more likely to take them to medical attention. A child in a left in a freezing car "just got a little cold" unless they are showing blatantly obvious LBT/ hypothermia symptoms. So fewer medical reports, fewer reports by people who hear about it after the fact, fewer investigations/ intervention, and less media interest for sensationally tragic headlines.

[Mike]

I think the summer/winter difference is a combination of how Dave explained it, and what Cat Herder said:

My personal opinion is that families have many more scheduled activities to juggle in warmer months than in colder ones. Sports, end of school activities/testing pressures, camps, recitals, etc.

Add to that the commercial focus on family time and photo op holiday gatherings keep the parents' attention more on the kids during the colder months.

People do forget their kids in the winter too, but probably not quite as often, and there would be more time to be discovered before it's too late.

[mommyneedsadayoff]

Do you think the total number of kids "forgotten" is the same in all months but we don't hear about the ones that survive because they aren't reported to the state, they are reported but it is handled as a child neglect case, or the news doesn't catch wind of it?

I'm trying to square how, if it is distraction and parental alienation due to not caring for them when they are awake, that there are more instances in certain months.

If there are not then we need to figure out what the cooler months and cold months do to parents that makes them not forget that doesn't happen in the hot months.

I have lived in Texas and North Dakota. I feel like these incidents happen throughout the year, but are reported more i the summer because, as Dave said, it is much easier to die from the heat in a car, versus the cold.

When I lived in Texas, the minute you turn the car off, it is a LITERAL sauna. It heats up so fast and since it takes less than 10 degrees to have some serious effects on the body, it is just a really quick event and generally leads to death, which is then reported. In ND, the car can get cold pretty quick, but we also dress in layers, and while car seat safety says you should not ave a coat on, I think a large majority of parents keep the coat on when buckled in. The extra layers, insulation of the car, and the fact that your body has to drop temp by quite a bit (50-60 degrees I think) to have fatal impact makes me think it happens just as frequently, but is not reported. Either the parent figures it out and obviously does not report, or teh fact that it is not fatal, leads to a charge of neglect and it is tossed in with the other stats.

I would like to see the stats by state and month. I wonder if states with winter weather have lower stats. My reasoning is that when you drive in snow and ice, you have to actively participate in the drive, so you engage your brain much more. In states where weather is not a factor, it is much easier to shift into "autopilot". You don't need to engage your brain as much. If you have ever driven somewhere and not really remembered the drive because you were thinking of other things (daydreaming, aka dissociation), it is an example of what I am talking about in my previous post. Your brain is doing what it has done a thousand times before and that is why no alarm is triggered. In ND, you better be paying attention and engaging your brain when you drive, because otherwise you end up in the ditch or worse.

[Blackcat31]

...and yet another one...

http://abc13.com/baby-dies-after-father-forgets-her-in-hot-pickup-truck/3515858/

[Cat Herder]

Photos and stories of the actual children. Scroll through to Heat Stroke. There are many categories of auto related deaths and near misses. - https://www.kidsandcars.org/child-stories/

[nannyde]

Photos and stories of the actual children. Scroll through to Heat Stroke. There are many categories of auto related deaths and near misses. - https://www.kidsandcars.org/child-stories/

https://www.kidsandcars.org/child_story/bryce-balfour/

well the first one is awful.

Mom takes sick lethargic baby to daycare without having any contact with him before leaving the house. On the phone while driving. Baby "dressed warmly". Car seat not positioned in middle of back seat. Provider calls cell phone but phone not checked. And on and on

I'm having a hard time believing her story. Very hard.

[Blackcat31]

https://www.kidsandcars.org/child_story/bryce-balfour/

well the first one is awful.

Mom takes sick lethargic baby to daycare without having any contact with him before leaving the house. On the phone while driving. Baby "dressed warmly". Car seat not positioned in middle of back seat. Provider calls cell phone but phone not checked. And on and on

I'm having a hard time believing her story. Very hard.

ALL the stories are hard to read. Mostly because you know how it ends.. and because it really is hard to wrap your head around something you just can't wrap your head around as logical.

I read the one under Heat Strokes (Jenna..no picture..just a black background with a white angel) and her mom does a REALLY good job of explaining how her brain simply over wrote her intentions. Heartbreaking though...

Another one I read one there was the one where the mom left her kids playing outside and went inside and fell asleep. The kids some how got inside the care and couldn't get out and died. The mom was ultimately charged because her version of what happened didn't make sense.

Ugh, regardless of the circumstances they are all heartbreaking.

[happymom]

I read the one under Heat Strokes (Jenna..no picture..just a black background with a white angel) and her mom does a REALLY good job of explaining how her brain simply over wrote her intentions. Heartbreaking though...

This one literally had me hyperventilating. I feel so sorry that this happens. For the kids, for the parent who made the mistake and the parent who didn't.....for the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, friends, caregivers....it's so so tragic

[Cat Herder]

https://www.kidsandcars.org/child_story/aslyn-paige-ryan/

This little one made it to the sitter, then the sitter left her in the car. They don't clearly spell it out, I found the rest of the story here: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/7...t-alone-in-car and https://www.journalscene.com/archive...23e2b8371.html

The babysitter moved to Wyoming and she never faced criminal charges.