CRIME: Hot Cars

Tragically children are being purposely left in cars. Recently a Texas mother was accused of leaving her two children in the car as punishment. Her two year old daughter and one year son were found in the locked car in her driveway dead. At first she told the police they children had been outside playing while she was indoors but at the station she admitted to getting frustrated with the children after refusing to leave the car. As punishment she closed the door assuming the two year old could get herself and her younger brother out. Additional after leaving the kids outside in the car, she went indoors, smoked marijuana and fell asleep.

According to noheatstroke.org by Jan Null, CCM, Department of Meteorology & Climate Science, San Jose State University, 716 children have died since 1998 in hot vehicles. The question is why? The reason is parents are forgetting their children in cars or in this case as punishment.

An article at kidsandcars.org explains one reason people 'forget' their children in their cars. The scientists explain that the brain has the capacity of functioning on 'autopilot' and for people who have a habit of going from home to work without stopping in the middle can 'forget' their children in the car because they are not use to stopping at the daycare. Which is what happened with the Reeves-Cavaliero family.

They are not the only ones, many children across the country have lost their lives because of death in a hot car; Bryce Balfour, Bishop Collins, Joziah Diaz-Beltran, Serenity Lee Lyman, Juan Parks, Maya Peabody, Jasmine Mendieta Van Herpen & Nathan Mendieta, just to name a few.

Luckily people are working towards preventing accidental deaths in hot cars. In texas, Bishop Curry is working on an invention called Oasis which will attached to the carseat or headrest and alert parents and police is a child is left in a car while blowing cold air until help arrived. 

Also in a law is being passed around in congress called the Hot Car Act 2017. This legislation will required that vehicles have an indication system to notify drivers if there is still a passenger in the backseat. Call your representative today in order to have them support this bill.