Common sense -- and laws in some places -- tell us that small children shouldn't be left in cars alone. Ever. Not just this once, or just for "a sec" It only takes a few minutes for things to go terribly wrong, and a recent close call in Orem, Utah, illustrates one of the reasons why.
Last week, Gail Belliston was walking out of a store when she heard a child screaming from a car. According to the Deseret News, the child was terrified and sweating profusely, so after a few minutes of seeing no one coming for the kid, Belliston pulled her out. Thank goodness she did too, because testing showed the temperature in the car had reached 110 degrees.
Police were called, but the mom didn't show up until 20 minutes after they arrived.
The woman said she'd just gone inside to use the restroom and that her daughter was sleeping so she didn't want to wake her up. But police say the girl was left alone at least 25 minutes, so it's pretty easy to deduce that she did some shopping or something else too.
Regardless of what she was doing, there's no excuse for what she did. It was reportedly around 88 degrees outside, but temperatures rise rapidly inside a closed car. If Belliston hadn't intervened, who knows how long the little girl would have survived.
Even more concerning is that the mother was only issued a ticket for a misdemeanor, but the girl was sent home with her.
Fortunately, this story had a somewhat happy ending, despite the fear I have for this girl being in the custody of someone who would be so reckless with her safety. But there are plenty of other instances in which there isn't a heroic stranger passing by to save a child.
Already this year, four children have died from hyperthermia after being left in a car in the United States, according to Jan Null, with San Francisco State University's Department of Geosciences. In 2011, 33 children died as a result of it.
So while leaving a child in a car alone is never a good idea, it's especially important to remember as temperatures climb higher. It's dangerous, potentially deadly, and nothing is worth the risk.
Do you ever leave your small children in the car alone?
Image via .reid/Flickr
This Hot Dad Wants to Vacuum Your Rug
This Hot Dad Wants to Do Your Ironing
KStew Refuses to Shower
This Hot Dad Wants to Cook You Dinner
Comments 89
No way! I take her in with me everywhere unless I have someone with me to sit with her in the car... its a hassle sometimes, but she's alive, so its worth it.
Horrifying. i hate having to wake my son when he's fallen asleep in his car seat but I've done it. I don't even leave all the doors closed when I stop for gas! i can't imagine how any mom could think it was ok to leave their kid in a hot car to shop. And I am shocked that all they did was give her a ticket!!
That is so sad! How do you "forget" your kid is in the car with you?! I can't even imagine leaving my 4-year-old in the car for any reason.
That's like a slap on the wrist the police gave her! If that woman had not gotten to her she most likely would have died- and I am sorry but she just did not "go to the bathroom" she was shopping! Who does that! ???
And then the stupid news lady shows people to put a bear in the car seat and to switch it up front to "remind" us that are kid is in the back seat!!!!
WHAT KIND OF PARENT FORGETS THEIR CHILD IS SITTING IN THEIR CAR??? SMFH !!!
These ppl dont "FORGET" their children they just dont care and it makes me sick i mean seriously . . . . i couldnt do it . . . . i have a 6month old andi get her out of the car everytime i get out. . . Come on ppl if you dont care about the child when your pregnant with em just give themm to someone who does and someone who wants children gezzz retards