Leaving Kids in Hot Cars

[RockyBalboa]

So basically neglect and abuse in these instances aren't the same thing.

I can buy that, but only up to a point.

Should we never prosecute anyone who leaves their helpless child in a boiling car then?

[Gidget]

A tragedy, NOT abuse by any means though. Again, I think when YOU ARE a parent you'll realize those things are just very hard to categorize. SO tell me Rocky, do you think she's a bad parent because of this one mistake, deserves jail time, what would make you happy (since you don't know her personally at all). Me and Surfah once got into the car with our daughter-put her in her carseat and realized 10 minutes later when she was saying high to us from the center console that we forgot to buckle her in. Now, nothing fatal happened, we pulled over and buckled her in properly feeling like total idiots and very guilty, taking with us the knowledge to not assume the other parent did the buckling, but what if something had happened? Should we be burned at the stake?

[FarrahWaters]

I agree with Lebowski. The loss of her child is punishment enough.

[Gidget]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

So basically neglect and abuse in these instances aren't the same thing.

I can buy that, but only up to a point.

Should we never prosecute anyone who leaves their helpless child in a boiling car then?

Like I said, it is when these things happen more than sometimes that a parent's history and background should be looked at more carefully. It sounds like everyone, including the judge, felt as though a tougher punishment would have been cruel.

[ERCougar]

Originally Posted by RockyBalboa

So basically neglect and abuse in these instances aren't the same thing.

I can buy that, but only up to a point.

Should we never prosecute anyone who leaves their helpless child in a boiling car then?

Actually, probably not. I won't say never, but almost never. If she intended to hurt her child, there would be a thousand easier, more convenient, and less messy ways to do it. From all I can tell, this was an accident, plain and simple. Probation seems completely appropriate. If it happened again, then we're dealing with something else.

[marsupial]

I'm not the best mom in the world, but I do have a hard time imagining a scenario where I just forget one of my kids in the car. Maybe accidentally locking them in the car with the keys or something, but totally forgetting them in there?

[MikeWaters]

my dad, as a boy, was left at a gas station on vacation. For several hours I believe. They just took off without him.

Always good to do a headcount.

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

I know two fathers who backed over toddlers in the driveway, both resulting in deaths.

Jail time would have been cruel in this case. She will suffer enough.

I have an aunt whose toddler got out of the back seat in traffic and she ran him over. This was 35 years ago when seat belts were still not widely used and he died. I have a friend whose older brother was a toddler when he drown in his grandparents' pool before my friend was born.

I don't think any of us can comprehend the permanent open wound that is left on the soul when something like that happens, unless it has happened to us.

People should be prosecuted for criminal negligence, but mercy and discretion should play a major role.

[MikeWaters]

A lady in my neck of the woods was prosecuted after leaving her kid in the car while drunk.

They occasionally do prosecute, esp. if you are black, hispanic, poor.

[SeattleUte]

Good grief, by now leaving a child to die of heat exhaustion in a closed car is like diving in three feet of water. Who doesn't understand the the consequences of that? I can understand having a great deal of pity for a parent who becomes momentarily distracted and the kid suddenly winds up at the bottom of the pool. But leaving a kid in a car in 100 degrees is different. I have no problem with the state intervening to protect young children from abusive parents. This is a form of child abuse, and if the child dies in such a situation, there should be criminal sanction just as surely as if the parent beat the child to death. FWIW, IMHO. Can't believe Rocky and I agree on anything.