Summer, Kids, and Cars—The Other Side of the Coin

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July 10, 11:50 PM

by Bernie Thomas, Baltimore News and Traffic Examiner

 

 

After my last piece, a reader wrote a scathing comment that got my attention. Granted, other readers defended my viewpoint, and this reader obviously has a vested interest in the Fortilage case, but it caused me to look at it from another standpoint.

I found an article in USA Today by Allen G. Breed and Martha Mendoza, Associated Press, that I feel compelled to share. The piece is titled Wide disparity exists in sentences for leaving kids to die in hot cars; and what I found more interesting than the differences in penalties for men verses women, or parents verses caregivers, or mothers verses fathers, was what the “experts” refer to as “the awful truth.”

When asked as to how something as important as a baby is so easily forgotten when in the back seat of a car, this is what they said.

“The correlation between the rise in these deaths and the 1990s move to put children in the back seat is striking. ‘Up to that time, the average number of children dying of hyperthermia in the United States was about 11 a year,’ says Jan Null, an adjunct professor of meteorology at San Francisco State University who has studied this trend. ‘Then we put them in the back, turned the car seats around. And from '98 to 2006, that number is 36 a year’.”

“It's easy to forget your keys or that cup of coffee on the roof. But a child? How is that possible?”

“The awful truth, experts say, is that the stressed-out brain can bury a thought — something as trite as a coffee cup or crucial as a baby — and go on autopilot. While researchers once thought the different parts of the brain worked in conjunction with each other, they now realize that different portions dominate at different times.”

“ ‘The value of the item is not only not relevant in these competing memory systems,’ says memory expert David Diamond, an associate psychology professor at the University of South Florida who also works at a Veterans Affairs hospital. ‘But, in fact, we can be more complacent because we tell ourselves, 'There's no way I would forget my child."'

“Harvard University Daniel Shachter, a leading brain researcher, says memory is very ‘cue dependent’. And in these cases, the cue is often missing,’ he says. ‘When we go on automatic, it's very possible for us to ignore or forget about seemingly important things’. Like a baby.”

I wrote myself a post-it note today and stuck it on the dashboard of my car. It simply says, “box.” It refers to a package I’ve been meaning to ship for the last two days. It’s in the trunk, and yes, I forgot about it. Granted, I can’t see it in the trunk. But if I could, I’d remember to ship it. According to professor Shachter, the same holds true for anything. Even babies.

It seems, the fix to this problem might be as simple as writing yourself a note, or hanging one of those mid-80s, “Baby On Board” signs the Yuppies loved so much from the rear view mirror. I’m sure there’s a warehouse full of them somewhere. Or maybe some entrepreneur will design a smaller, magnetic version parents can stick near the door lock, since everyone remembers to lock their car.

What’s that? You have a remote locking system? Then instead of “beep!”, maybe it could say “Baby!”

I’m sure you can tell by now that I’ve reconsidered my position on the subject. I’m not flip-flopping like Obama, mind you. He’s never wrong in whatever side he decides to take. But in my case, I am. I jumped on the emotional bandwagon with both feet, and I should have exercised more restraint.

The article makes reference of mother’s who were truly negligent in the deaths of their children. One was actually drinking in a bar and checked on her child, but stopped. (3-Month-Old Locked in Car Dies.)

My point is, I no longer feel the Fortilage woman is a bad mother, but simply one who exercises exceedingly poor judgment. She made herself look bad with the lame excuses she gave police, but my guess is she was simply ashamed, something that is sadly lacking in today’s decency-deficient world. She should still be charged with negligence, and she should definitely drop to her knees at her earliest opportunity and thank the good Lord for sending a Guardian Angle to save her baby. She was damn lucky.

I want to mention that the person who left the comment on the other piece, defended Fortilage, citing a “family tragedy” she was dealing with. But if that baby had died, she’d find herself dealing with a second tragedy, and she’d never forgive herself.

For the complete article:  Wide disparity exists in sentences for leaving kids to die in hot cars.

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