How exactly do you forget a 2yr old in the car?

[Bateluer]

http://www.ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1309411

PHOENIX - A 21-month-old girl has died after being left for more than two hours inside a car in triple-digit heat, authorities said.

Phoenix police believe Zipporah Johnson was in the car's back seat and apparently was forgotten by her father when family members returned home from church services Sunday afternoon.

When family members discovered the girl around 5:30 p.m., they began first aid, said police spokesman Detective James Holmes. The girl was pronounced dead from heat-related causes at a hospital, he said.

``It was 108 degrees at 2:30 in the afternoon. For that car to reach even 140, 150 degrees only takes 30 minutes,'' Holmes said.

Holmes said the child's father will face negligent homicide charges.

"As horrible as this is for that family, and certainly for our community, at some point somebody has to speak for the child," he said.

Zipporah's death marks the first time this year that a child has been left in a hot car to die. Phoenix had no such deaths in 2009.

``The community is paying attention. They're listening,'' Holmes said.

San Francisco State University researchers said there have been 19 deaths this year from children being left in hot cars. Last year, at least 33 heat-related fatalities in the United States were due to hyperthermia after children were left in cars, trucks, vans and SUVs.

Two things are certain to happen every single summer in Phoenix. 1) At least a few children will drown in unattended pools, and 2) a few children will cook after being left in cars by boneheaded excuses for parents. These idiots need to have CPS strip them of custody of any other children they may have created and spend some serious time in prison, that, or sterilization.

Honestly, how the heck do you 'forget' your toddler in the car? Were you drunk when you drove home from church?

The law needs to come down like the hammer of God on sorry excuses like these.

 

[BoberFett]

I'm going to guess it's probably due to being born to someone who would name their child Zipporah.


Edit: Zipporah is the child, not the parent.

 

[shortylickens]

I'm going to guess it's probably due to being born to someone who would name their child Zipporah.

I'm gonna have to agree with this one.

Whenever I hear someone has a fucked up name, I dont think they are maladjusted. I think they're parents are maladjusted. More often than not, I am correct.

 

[sandorski]

I lost my 3 Month old son, Watchamacallit, in much the same fashion.

 

[Vette73]

How small was the kid as well. My son is 14 months old and he can walk, talk a little of 2 different lang's, open doors, etc...
If I leave him some where I will hear it real fast or he will just unlock himself. I don;t think he can open the car door yet but he knows how to unlock his seat. Let alone do you not notice your kid is missing for hours.


But yea... Zipporah... really.

At least the father is being charged. This always seemed like a good way to get rid of kids you did not want and not get charged.

 

[Double Trouble]

I agree that there's absolutely no excuse for "forgetting" a child in a car like this. I have two of my own and can't imagine ever "forgetting" them anywhere. That's awful what happened to that kid (WTF kind of name is zipporah anyway?)

Still, clearly it happens regularly all around the country and the world, and not just to people you'd assume are stupid (druggies, abusive parents etc). That suggests there are times when people might be tired or their brain otherwise simply zones out and they forget something major like that. Usually it doesn't end in death or major injury, but sometimes it does.

If we're talking about an actual parent and not an otherwise negligent idiot or a psychopath, the pain of losing their child in such a way is going to do far more than any punishment could ever do. Harsh punishment in that case does not accomplish anything: it will not bring the child back, it will not serve as a deterrent for future incidents, and it will not be any more severe than what the parent already experiences.

 

[Zebo]

No one "forgets" their child in a car unless they want too.

I'm a pretty reckless type. Let my sons drive at 10 on my lap, let them ride motocross, they all have guns, etc never happened once.

 

[Zebo]

I agree that there's absolutely no excuse for "forgetting" a child in a car like this. I have two of my own and can't imagine ever "forgetting" them anywhere. That's awful what happened to that kid (WTF kind of name is zipporah anyway?)

Still, clearly it happens regularly all around the country and the world, and not just to people you'd assume are stupid (druggies, abusive parents etc). That suggests there are times when people might be tired or their brain otherwise simply zones out and they forget something major like that. Usually it doesn't end in death or major injury, but sometimes it does.

If we're talking about an actual parent and not an otherwise negligent idiot or a psychopath, the pain of losing their child in such a way is going to do far more than any punishment could ever do. Harsh punishment in that case does not accomplish anything: it will not bring the child back, it will not serve as a deterrent for future incidents, and it will not be any more severe than what the parent already experiences.

Child support is expensive.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

WTF kind of name is zipporah anyway?

Zipporah was the wife of Moses.

 

[Linflas]

If you actually want to try and understand here is something worth a read:

Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?

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.

 

[Double Trouble]

No one "forgets" their child in a car unless they want too.

I'm a pretty reckless type. Let my sons drive at 10 on my lap, let them ride motocross, they all have guns, etc never happened once.

Sorry, you are flat out wrong on that one. It's happened countless times to people of every part of society, at every education level etc. There's been some research done into the issue and the fact is it happens to people of all types. It's not just the result of willful harm or outright stupidity.

 

[Double Trouble]

Zipporah was the wife of Moses.

Thanks, I didn't realize that. What a weird name.

If you actually want to try and understand here is something worth a read:

Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?

Thanks for the link Linflas, that was part of my earlier point. People tend to look at something like this and assume that it was either intentional or that it was a stupidly incompetent parent out to get a manicure while the kid is in the car. There are certainly instances of that kind of stupidity as well, but it's not always the case.

 

[StageLeft]

I haven't come close to it but it seems plausible. I have been driving before and temporarily forgot one of my kids was in the back because they were so quiet. Any time I stop I don't believe I've come close to forgetting, though, but if you can be in some zone temporarily, maybe thrown out of your normal habits because your husband has the kid every morning and it's never you and you're stressed over something it is plausible.

Obviously it's abnormal to forget your kid in the car so long they die, however.

 

[Bateluer]

I sense an opportunity. Write an iPhone app that generates alerts to remind parts to ensure their kids are not locked in the care. 2.99 to purchase, .99 for upgrades to remind parents to check their child's room for them, remind them to check their child's getting on the bus to school, etc. Profit!

 

[Linflas]

I sense an opportunity. Write an iPhone app that generates alerts to remind parts to ensure their kids are not locked in the care. 2.99 to purchase, .99 for upgrades to remind parents to check their child's room for them, remind them to check their child's getting on the bus to school, etc. Profit!

Given the small percentage of the population that uses iPhones that wouldn't really be effective but there is a genuine opportunity to come up with a system that would raise some kind of alarm when the car is turned off and locked with no one in the car but a kid still strapped in a car seat.

 

[MotF Bane]

Given the small percentage of the population that uses iPhones that wouldn't really be effective but there is a genuine opportunity to come up with a system that would raise some kind of alarm when the car is turned off and locked with no one in the car but a kid still strapped in a car seat.

So you would need a sensor in the car seat to recognize that it is occupied, and sensors to evaluate that no other seat in the car is occupied, and it needs to be connected to the car to check if the car is locked (and what if the family is the sort that doesn't lock their car?), and finally be able to set off the car alarm.

Um... yeah. I'm seeing a lot of retrofit work for cars without this brand-new system, and it's an added cost option for new cars.

 

[Kirby]

Zipporah was the wife of Moses.

random knowledge is random :awe:

 

[Linflas]

So you would need a sensor in the car seat to recognize that it is occupied, and sensors to evaluate that no other seat in the car is occupied, and it needs to be connected to the car to check if the car is locked (and what if the family is the sort that doesn't lock their car?), and finally be able to set off the car alarm.

Um... yeah. I'm seeing a lot of retrofit work for cars without this brand-new system, and it's an added cost option for new cars.

1. No where in anything I posted suggested this be made mandatory or retrofitted to existing vehicles.

2. All cars manufactured in/imported into the US today already have sensors installed in at least the driver seat for activating the seatbelt idiot light and chime.

3. If there were a simple way to do this no doubt some manufacturer would already be doing it and reaping the rewards. That does not mean that they won't figure out a way to do it at some point, after all airbags were considered to be an impractical idea in the 1970's and look at the advances made with that germ of an idea in 40 years.

 

[drebo]

I don't know the whole backstory, but this guy's life is already ruined. Why send him to prison? What good is that going to do?

Yes, it's a terrible thing, and he's going to have to live with it for the rest of his life. Is it really justice to send him to prison? Now, if he was willfully negligent and has a history of negligence, that's a completely different story. But if it was an honest mistake, my feeling is that he's already punishing himself worse than the state could ever dream.

 

[Vette73]

I don't know the whole backstory, but this guy's life is already ruined. Why send him to prison? What good is that going to do?

Yes, it's a terrible thing, and he's going to have to live with it for the rest of his life. Is it really justice to send him to prison? Now, if he was willfully negligent and has a history of negligence, that's a completely different story. But if it was an honest mistake, my feeling is that he's already punishing himself worse than the state could ever dream.

Opps I forgot my gun was loaded and killed someone, opps sorry about running over your kid I was talking on my cell phone, etc...

Sorry you kill someone that is your fault you should not get a mulligan.

As already pointed out if people were not punished for this it be aeasy way to get rid of a kid you do not want, child support, etc... and just play the "oh no I will have to live the rest of my life knowing..."

 

[EagleKeeper]

If there are multiple children being removed from the car; it is easy to expect that the other parent or older sibling has taken care of the last one.

 

[Atreus21]

I wonder how hard it would be to make a car sensitive to a forgotten occupant. Maybe automatically roll down the windows or something, or even call OnStar.

 

[drebo]

Opps I forgot my gun was loaded and killed someone, opps sorry about running over your kid I was talking on my cell phone, etc...

Sorry you kill someone that is your fault you should not get a mulligan.

As already pointed out if people were not punished for this it be aeasy way to get rid of a kid you do not want, child support, etc... and just play the "oh no I will have to live the rest of my life knowing..."

Your examples are not even close to the same.

Also note that I qualified my sentiments for the eventuality that this was willful negligence or a recurring pattern.

kkthxbye.

 

[Modelworks]

I think it is do to the shorter attention span people have now. They did a study comparing how the brain process information now compared to 10 years ago. It showed that people now are being bombarded with information from so many sources and the idea that things need to be done quickly that the brain is adapting by breaking up what used to be a slower train of thought into segments of , guy on radio talking, cell phone ringing, gps giving instructions, trying to remember what they are at a store for and worrying if they will get back out of the store in time to do what needs to be done next, the person pulling out in front of them or taking their parking space and all of it combined causing information overload.

Most of the cases where people forgot their child were people in a hurry or with a lot going on. They were not people taking a casual drive, going shopping for hours.

The OP article I can't understand though because while I can see forgetting the child for a few minutes, I cannot understand 2 hours.

 

[Vette73]

Your examples are not even close to the same.

Also note that I qualified my sentiments for the eventuality that this was willful negligence or a recurring pattern.

kkthxbye.

So if I fire my gun and kill someone I should get off as it was the first time I fired it and I also did not mean to do it?

And how many kids do I have to cook before it becomes a "recurring pattern"?

Sorry; but if you kill someone you have to answer for it, period.