To the Editor:
Re “When a Child Dies in a Hot Car, Is It an Accident, or Is It a Crime?” (front page, Aug. 1):
Without a doubt too many children (and pets) die in overheated cars. But blaming the adults is cruel and wrong. After every report of another child who tragically died from heatstroke, around dinner tables, break room coffee pots and park benches you will find parents quietly confessing the close calls they have themselves experienced.
I know. I have heard the confessions and told my own stories. It is just sheer dumb luck that I am not one of those distraught bereaved parents. I have personally experienced two close calls. Human beings make mistakes. We are too often overworked, overwrought or completely immersed in immediate tasks. Deaths will continue to happen, and the poor devastated parents will be blamed and vilified.
Technology could so easily prevent these deaths. I am not an inventor. I am a parent. Could there not be a sensor in the car that would sound an alarm when too much weight is on a seat for too many minutes after the motor is off? Or a temperature gauge that would sound an alarm if a breathing creature is in a too-hot car?
Instead of throwing stones at the tragically unlucky adults who make these oh-so-easy and horrible mistakes, we should be clamoring for a cheap, effective and universal technology solution, one that is available to all parents regardless of the make, model or year of car they drive.
Ann Hokanson
St. Peter, Minn.
To the Editor:
Re “‘Trying to Understand’ How He Let Twins Die” (news article, July 30) and “Investigation Continuing in Death of Twins in Car” (news article, Aug. 2):
Your articles on yet more small children, in this case twins, dying from heatstroke after being left alone in a vehicle focus on punishment for the adult who left the babies behind. But they ignore the real culprits: auto manufacturers.
For years, manufacturers have known about this problem and how to solve it, with technology that alerts the driver about the precious cargo in the back seat when the adult gets out of the vehicle. And for years manufacturers have failed to perfect or install such technology. They have fought against both federal legislation and federal safety standards to mandate such technology.
There are skilled auto industry suppliers who have invested in detection and alert systems that would save precious lives and the heartbreak suffered by parents and caregivers. The cost is tiny, and the benefits are immense.
Caregivers should not be criminally prosecuted for forgetfulness. It is the auto companies that have withheld effective technology to protect babies who should be punished. A bill now before Congress would mandate effective detection and alert systems and should be enacted now.
Joan Claybrook
Washington
The writer is president emeritus of Public Citizen and former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Source: Read Full Article
Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | Every Parent’s Nightmare: The Death of a Child Left in a Hot Car
Opinion | Every Parent’s Nightmare: The Death of a Child Left in a Hot Car
To the Editor:
Re “When a Child Dies in a Hot Car, Is It an Accident, or Is It a Crime?” (front page, Aug. 1):
Without a doubt too many children (and pets) die in overheated cars. But blaming the adults is cruel and wrong. After every report of another child who tragically died from heatstroke, around dinner tables, break room coffee pots and park benches you will find parents quietly confessing the close calls they have themselves experienced.
I know. I have heard the confessions and told my own stories. It is just sheer dumb luck that I am not one of those distraught bereaved parents. I have personally experienced two close calls. Human beings make mistakes. We are too often overworked, overwrought or completely immersed in immediate tasks. Deaths will continue to happen, and the poor devastated parents will be blamed and vilified.
Technology could so easily prevent these deaths. I am not an inventor. I am a parent. Could there not be a sensor in the car that would sound an alarm when too much weight is on a seat for too many minutes after the motor is off? Or a temperature gauge that would sound an alarm if a breathing creature is in a too-hot car?
Instead of throwing stones at the tragically unlucky adults who make these oh-so-easy and horrible mistakes, we should be clamoring for a cheap, effective and universal technology solution, one that is available to all parents regardless of the make, model or year of car they drive.
Ann Hokanson
St. Peter, Minn.
To the Editor:
Re “‘Trying to Understand’ How He Let Twins Die” (news article, July 30) and “Investigation Continuing in Death of Twins in Car” (news article, Aug. 2):
Your articles on yet more small children, in this case twins, dying from heatstroke after being left alone in a vehicle focus on punishment for the adult who left the babies behind. But they ignore the real culprits: auto manufacturers.
For years, manufacturers have known about this problem and how to solve it, with technology that alerts the driver about the precious cargo in the back seat when the adult gets out of the vehicle. And for years manufacturers have failed to perfect or install such technology. They have fought against both federal legislation and federal safety standards to mandate such technology.
There are skilled auto industry suppliers who have invested in detection and alert systems that would save precious lives and the heartbreak suffered by parents and caregivers. The cost is tiny, and the benefits are immense.
Caregivers should not be criminally prosecuted for forgetfulness. It is the auto companies that have withheld effective technology to protect babies who should be punished. A bill now before Congress would mandate effective detection and alert systems and should be enacted now.
Joan Claybrook
Washington
The writer is president emeritus of Public Citizen and former administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Source: Read Full Article