Don't leave kids in parked cars

[Chrome]

This came across my desk last week ... something to keep in mind for parents (sorry about the embedded GM propaganda).

Reported Heatstroke Deaths Of Children In Parked Vehicles Rise By Nearly 70 Percent

GM, SAFE KIDS Urge Parents And The Public To Take Action, Practice Prevention

Warren, Mich. - As temperatures rise this season, General Motors and the National SAFE KIDS Campaign are urging people to be vigilant about preventing heatstroke fatalities among children who are intentionally left or forgotten in, or who gain access to a hot, unattended parked vehicle.

According to GM research, across the country there were almost 70 percent more of such fatalities reported in 2003 than in 2002. Since 1996, GM researchers have identified a total of 228 fatalities based upon media reports, however, the actual number could be higher. This year, GM researchers have already identified four fatalities. One occurred in early March in Oregon, on a day when the high temperature was less than 70 F.

"This news is shocking and we are pleading with everyone - parents, bystanders and the news media - to take action to help prevent more of these tragedies from happening this year," said Deb Nowak-Vanderhoef, a GM safety executive. "We especially want to reach out to bystanders who see unattended children in a hot vehicle, to urge them to contact emergency services immediately. It could save a child's life."

Since 2001, GM and SAFE KIDS have been educating the public on the dangers of leaving children unattended in motor vehicles with a campaign called "Never Leave Your Child Alone."

Until now, education and outreach efforts have been aimed mostly at parents and other people who transport children. This year the partner organizations are extending their campaign to involve bystanders.

"Many of these deaths happen when a child is left behind or forgotten by an adult, while others occur when a child gains access to an unlocked car and can not get out," said Dr. Angela Mickalide, program director of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign. "We want parents to know that leaving a child alone in a vehicle, even for a few minutes, is never OK. We also want people to know that if they see a small child alone in a vehicle, they need to get help."

GM research shows that children also are dying when they gain access to an unlocked vehicle, often in their own driveway, and then are not able to get themselves out. GM and SAFE KIDS urge adults to lock vehicles at all times and put the keys in a secure place and out of reach of children - even at home.

In studies commissioned by GM of Canada, Dr. Oded Bar-Or of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, has shown how susceptible children are to heatstroke. The first study, completed in 2001, revealed that a child left in a hot, closed vehicle in dry heat can face serious risk of injury or death in just minutes. The second study, released in early 2003, showed that when substituting humid heat for dry heat, injury or death can occur in half the time.

Previous research and real-world incidents have demonstrated that on a warm, sunny day, even at temperatures as mild as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, a closed vehicle can be lethal. Because a child's body temperature increases three to five times faster than an adult's and children are not able to dissipate heat as efficiently as adults, every minute counts when a child is trapped in a hot vehicle.

To help prevent more fatalities, GM and SAFE KIDS offer these tips:

Never leave a child unattended in a motor vehicle, even with a window slightly open.

If you see a small child who is unattended in a motor vehicle and in need of help, contact emergency services. If you are in an OnStar-equipped vehicle, simply push the red emergency OnStar button. You will be quickly connected with an OnStar emergency services advisor who will expedite the call to public safety.

Always lock your vehicle - especially at home - and keep keys out of children's reach.

Make sure all children leave the vehicle upon arrival at a destination. Be especially careful if transporting children on a specific day or time is not part of your normal routine. In the case of infants that may be sleeping, get into the habit of placing your purse or briefcase on the floor of the rear seat near where the child is seated to make sure you have to go into the rear seat before leaving the vehicle.

Teach children not to play in, on or around vehicles.

Watch children closely around vehicles, especially when loading and unloading.

For the fourth year in a row, GM and SAFE KIDS are distributing free brochures in English and Spanish that include safety tips and information about the dangers of leaving children unattended in vehicles. They are free and available through the more than 300 SAFE KIDS coalitions nationwide. Order additional brochures at 866-700-0001 (press/choose option No. 2). Or, download the brochure from the GMability and SAFE KIDS web sites, www.gmability.comand www.safekids.org.

[danasgoodstuff]

Hey, if it saves a kid's life then more power to GM for this at least... You wouldn't think that people'd need to be told but apparently they do.

[BruceH]

The cases of this rose 70% in one year? Wha??? Are people getting that much STUPIDER that fast, or is this a statistical aberration?

[chris olivarez]

Every year I read about this and it never fails to make me incredibly angry. If DA's had latitude to put murder one charges on the parents who do this it might make them more likely to stop and think about leaving their kids in a parked car with the windows rolled up on a warm or hot day. It is a heinous and criminally irresponsible thing to do.

[RainyDay]

I can't believe a grown adult has to be told that this is stupid. This is as dumb as parents who leave a child in a car with the keys in the ignition and the engine running, and the car thief takes off with the car and the kid. Don't get me started.

In this area, if someone calls the cops for a child or a pet left in a shut up car, you could get arrested. Then everyone whines about how unfair that is. And if the child dies, then there's the old, "s/he suffered enough...it's not fair to send them to jail." I don't get it. They should be kicked in the butt about a 1,000 times then sent to Abu Ghraib, or however the hell you spell it. I sometimes wonder how children manage to survive childhood. I get mad just thinking about this. Some really horrible instances of children dying in hot cars have popped up in these parts that just make you want to weep. One guy blamed it on ADD. Can you dig that?

[Rooster_Ties]

  RainyDay said:

This is as dumb as parents who leave a child in a car with the keys in the ignition and the engine running, and the car thief takes off with the car and the kid.

Yeah, there was a case here in Missouri, near Kansas City, just a couple years ago. The mother left her kid in her SUV, with the keys in it, and the engine running.

Some guy who was let out on bail (but who should have been kept in jail, because there were other warrants out for him, which didn't come up on the computer for some reason), anyway, this guy steals the running SUV, with the kid in it.

Well, as he's racing down the highway, the kid (who was only like about 6 years old), either tries to jump out of the car, or was pushed out of the car by the car thief. While the car (SUV) is doing 60 mph on the highway!! The kid is tangled in the seatbelt, and is dragged to his death, while the guy is weaving in and out of traffic on the highway.

And the mother is all upset (as anyone would be), and raises hell about how if the county had been doing their job, this guy wouldn't have been out on bail in the first place (cuz of the outstanding warrants). Big hoopla ensues, and a bill (law) is finally passed in the state legislature (with the name of the kid, something like "Billy's Law" or whatever the kid's name was), to clamp down on bail being granted incorrectly in cases like this. (And that's all well and good.)

BUT, all the while, I'm thinking they should have also thrown that mother's ass in jail for three months, for leaving her kid in a $35,000 vehicle (or even a $200 one), with the keys in it, and the motor running. I was furious for everyone in the local media making such a huge deal about guy being let out on bail (incorrectly), but then never once saying a fucking word about how this would have never happened if the kid hadn't been left in the car in the first place!!!!

Get's my blood boiling even now, two or three years after the fact.

[maren]

Me three. How can people do this? Just last week, a guy just outside the city (northern New Jersey) left his infant son in the car while he attended his rabbinical classes for hours -- FORGOT HE HAD THE BABY IN THE CAR AND WAS SUPPOSED TO DROP HIM OFF AT THE SITTER. The baby died. Drug test for parent, anyone? Unfortunately, don't think so.

Here's a not-tragic ending, except as regards the parent's attitude: About three years ago, my brother saw a baby in a car outside a small strip-mall. Sunny day, only one window, only slightly cracked open. My brother runs into closest store, all the time asking who has a baby in a car, finds a security guard who helps jimmy the car door open -- 15 minutes later the father arrives and has the nerve to be ANGRY with THEM! My brother -- with fully-controlled righteous rage lighting him up like Moses or our own dad -- tells the guy to THANK him and promise never to leave a kid alone in a car again or he'll call the police right then and there -- and the guy appears to get it, if only grudgingly.

[JSngry]

I've also heard that it's not safe to drink Drano.

Who knew?

[BruceH]

  RainyDay said:

One guy blamed it on ADD. Can you dig that?

Was he related to Janklow?

[Jazzmoose]

Wow...I just found out that it's recommended that you actually turn off the garbage disposal before sticking your hand down there to dislodge a stuck item. The things you learn...

[BruceH]

AND you're not supposed to put your foot into open bear-traps! How do you REMEMBER all this stuff?????

[JSngry]

Post-It Notes?

[Jazzmoose]

That's what I thought, but then if you put them on the flat surface of your glasses ( a logical place for them to stick, right?) I'm told that driving is then not recommended...I'm telling ya, this modern world...

[sheldonm]

  Chrome said:

"Many of these deaths happen when a child is left behind or forgotten by an adult!

[alankin]

Yes another reason to demand parental licensing...