S/O: Help me to understand what is particularly dangerous about children in cars?

[lionfamily1999]

We make actual laws about neglible risks only because of the media attention while we don't make laws at all about much more common risks. I'm actually not advocating laws about that either. All the "kids playing with cigarette lighters" in cars could happen in homes: should we have a "You cannot leave your child alone in a room in your home so you must take them into the bathroom with you" law? And since we have to be concerned that every parent is a predator, we should include that another adult of the same sex as the child must moniter that. Should we have laws against parents who serve children grapes or hot dogs without cutting them into 1/4's? And laws concerning watching your child constantly while they chew and swallow, since those quarter pieces can still occlude airways and a vigilant adult who is certified in first aid and CPR should be on hand in case resusitation is needed. Should we have a law requiring that children sleep in parents' rooms because if there is a fire the parent might not be able to get to them? Back to parent predators. Also, the bed needs a special divider to keep the parent from inadvertantly smothering the child, or pushing them off the bed, or taking all the covers leaving the child exposed to the room temperature. Should we pass laws outlawing window blinds because children get choked on the cords frequently? As well as laws requiring window coverings to protect children from predators outside of their home who could use uncovered windows as a way to peep. We cannot legislate away each and every accidental death.

 

We are very irrational. We accept much more common accidental deaths because we see them as normal life and we want to guard against truly freak incidents such as stranger kidnapping by legislation (not legislation directed at kidnappers but at parents)

:iagree:

That and we tend to forget the contraries... See above in purple :D

[aggieamy]

My Volvo does this. I lock the boys in and they know that if anyone goes for the doors the car will start beeping and flashing its lights like mad. It's worked, they stay in the car.

 

It's also impossible to get the car out of park without the key in the ignition.

 

Granted, this is a 90 something Volvo Stationwagon. I don't know about the tech in the newer ones.

 

I have a '05 Volvo and it does the same thing. Of course I'm one of those parents that will leave two almost seven year olds locked in the backseat of the car while I spend two minutes running into the gas station to throw cash at the cashier to pay for gas. Sure, the car could be stolen with the kids in the back but it's not an easy car to steal. It's possible someone could abduct my kids but let's look at the steps necessary to do that:

 

First they'd have to break the windows of the car in a well lit area with security cameras. No other way to get in because the car is locked and I've got the keys. At this point the alarms on the car will be shreaking and I'd have seen someone at the car in the first place because they would never have been out of my line of sight. The next step will be trying to unfasten or unseatbelt one of the kids and get away with them. If they wanted one of my kids that bad a better plan would be to wait until I'm walking into a store with one of them and knock me out because my vehicle would be harder to get a kid away from than my 5'1" 120 pound self is.

[lionfamily1999]

I have a '05 Volvo and it does the same thing. Of course I'm one of those parents that will leave two almost seven year olds locked in the backseat of the car while I spend two minutes running into the gas station to throw cash at the cashier to pay for gas. Sure, the car could be stolen with the kids in the back but it's not an easy car to steal. It's possible someone could abduct my kids but let's look at the steps necessary to do that:

 

First they'd have to break the windows of the car in a well lit area with security cameras. No other way to get in because the car is locked and I've got the keys. At this point the alarms on the car will be shreaking and I'd have seen someone at the car in the first place because they would never have been out of my line of sight. The next step will be trying to unfasten or unseatbelt one of the kids and get away with them. If they wanted one of my kids that bad a better plan would be to wait until I'm walking into a store with one of them and knock me out because my vehicle would be harder to get a kid away from than my 5'1" 120 pound self is.

Not to mention freaked out children fighting like a wild cat on jolt.

 

One time my brother snuck up behind us at the grocery store. He scooped up little Drew and pretended to kidnap him. Little Drew survived the drop, but I had to hold my big brother and get him wet paper towels to sooth his scratched up eyes. I was surprised (and pleased) with how quickly my docile wall flower turned into a biting scratching thing when he thought someone was trying to take him away.

[Capt_Uhura]

LionFamily - Fantastic story! I love it! Way to go baby boy! Once I put my DC in the car seat, went to the other side of the car to put the grocery cart into the stall which was right next to my car. Saw the driver door open and someone get into my van! I ran around ready to attack the person. Turns out, it was just an older woman with a van exactly like mine, parked behind mine. She hit her remote entry and assumed the door had unlocked. She didn't even notice the interior nor the baby in the middle row until I pulled the door open and yelled "What are you doing?" She was very embarrassed. :001_smile:

[lionfamily1999]

LionFamily - Fantastic story! I love it! Way to go baby boy! Once I put my DC in the car seat, went to the other side of the car to put the grocery cart into the stall which was right next to my car. Saw the driver door open and someone get into my van! I ran around ready to attack the person. Turns out, it was just an older woman with a van exactly like mine, parked behind mine. She hit her remote entry and assumed the door had unlocked. She didn't even notice the interior nor the baby in the middle row until I pulled the door open and yelled "What are you doing?" She was very embarrassed. :001_smile:

:lol: You have to love those moments when you figure out the reason the key isn't working is because THIS IS NOT YOUR CAR. Btdt.

 

I was very proud of my boy. My fear levels as a parent went down too. For some reason, I always thought that kids went quietly. Not mine, apparently :p

[Nestof3]

On day, a man opened my front door and stood confused in my doorway. One of my boys was in the kitchen and the other walked down the hallway to see who it was. I got very firm and barked, "You need to leave" and walked boldly toward him. I was about to command the boys to run out the back door to the police officer's house across the street.

 

He then said, "Is this ____________ house?"

 

It turns out, he was my neighbor's brother and got confused. He was probably in his 60's.

 

When he left, I began shaking and started crying. I swear, I was prepared to do anything to protect the boys.

 

I am typically a person who keeps our doors locked, but it must have been a day I was in and out.

 

FYI -- Most people will swear that their house is locked up, but our police officer friend told us that just about every time a person swears the house was locked during a robbery, it turns out one wasn't.

 

One day, our neighbor locked herself out. She said all of the windows were locked. We asked our police friend if he could do anything to get her in. He said, "Check the windows. Everyone always swears they're all locked, but very rarely is that the case." Sure enough, their son's window was unlocked, so our eldest climbed in and unlocked the door for her.

 

:lol: You have to love those moments when you figure out the reason the key isn't working is because THIS IS NOT YOUR CAR. Btdt.

 

I was very proud of my boy. My fear levels as a parent went down too. For some reason, I always thought that kids went quietly. Not mine, apparently :p

[Peek a Boo]

Not really. The number one safety factor is better medical care. It has done more than all interventions combined.

 

And doing dangerous things safer is of course a factor.

 

Just sitting in the car is not dangerous. Putting it on par with dangerous activities like the military and violent situations is flat out ridiculous.

 

There is minimizing risk and there is reacting to a risk far out of proportion.

 

Out of the millions of people in America, it's so unlikely that a child will light the vehicle on fire, crush their windpipe in a window, be abducted, start the car, or whatever that it is outside of reasonable proportion to the likelihood of the scenario to be fearful of such things happening without another factor to justify it, much less make laws against it. At least in my opinion.

 

I do believe there is a difference between acting merely out of fear vs exercising prudent steps to minimize risks.

 

most of the scenarios out there were before the person ever made it to the hospital: it was those safety factors that i was addressing.

 

I was mostly referring to all the general awareness campaigns out there -- abductions and assaults literally saw seriously reduced numbers after people started being pro-active about taking more precautions. Even 'just sitting in the car' is rarely a matter of 'just sitting'-- it usually involves kids NOT sitting, lol. Thus the safety features that are many times mandated.

The key phrase is "without another factor to justify it" ....enter the presence of a minor child that [as much as we want to believe otherwise] is likely [not guaranteed] to be unpredictable. PLUS the other variables about other people around the vehicle and the condition of the vehicle itself. variable, variable, variable.

 

everytime people contribute just a tiny bit to legitimately minimizing risks, the safety numbers go UP. Relaxing when we should be keeping our guard up [as opposed to just 'fearful'] will only see a rise in those numbers again....

[lionfamily1999]

On day, a man opened my front door and stood confused in my doorway. One of my boys was in the kitchen and the other walked down the hallway to see who it was. I got very firm and barked, "You need to leave" and walked boldly toward him. I was about to command the boys to run out the back door to the police officer's house across the street.

 

He then said, "Is this ____________ house?"

 

It turns out, he was my neighbor's brother and got confused. He was probably in his 60's.

 

When he left, I began shaking and started crying. I swear, I was prepared to do anything to protect the boys.

 

I am typically a person who keeps our doors locked, but it must have been a day I was in and out.

 

FYI -- Most people will swear that their house is locked up, but our police officer friend told us that just about every time a person swears the house was locked during a robbery, it turns out one wasn't.

 

One day, our neighbor locked herself out. She said all of the windows were locked. We asked our police friend if he could do anything to get her in. He said, "Check the windows. Everyone always swears they're all locked, but very rarely is that the case." Sure enough, their son's window was unlocked, so our eldest climbed in and unlocked the door for her.

That would have scared the bejeeminies out of me too.

 

Our house is locked up like Fort Knox, but it's also very small (not too many windows or doors to check). I've locked myself out, only to find out how easy it was to pop the lock :glare: Now I double/triple lock all the doors. Heaven help me if I get locked out again :lol:

[aggieamy]

I have a '05 Volvo and it does the same thing. Of course I'm one of those parents that will leave two almost seven year olds locked in the backseat of the car while I spend two minutes running into the gas station to throw cash at the cashier to pay for gas. Sure, the car could be stolen with the kids in the back but it's not an easy car to steal. It's possible someone could abduct my kids but let's look at the steps necessary to do that:

 

First they'd have to break the windows of the car in a well lit area with security cameras. No other way to get in because the car is locked and I've got the keys. At this point the alarms on the car will be shreaking and I'd have seen someone at the car in the first place because they would never have been out of my line of sight. The next step will be trying to unfasten or unseatbelt one of the kids and get away with them. If they wanted one of my kids that bad a better plan would be to wait until I'm walking into a store with one of them and knock me out because my vehicle would be harder to get a kid away from than my 5'1" 120 pound self is.

 

Not to mention freaked out children fighting like a wild cat on jolt.

 

 

I didn't realize you'd met my kids. :001_smile: