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Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

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Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#161

Post by Angostura »

rayiner wrote: post #31

This is a great way to analyze the purposes of the criminal justice system. Typically, there are three: punishment, deterrence, and rehabilitation. Prosecuting someone who forgot their kid in the car can't have deterrent effect--to the extent the event was avoidable, the possibility of prosecution couldn't possibly match the deterrent effect created by the risk of harm to the child. Likewise, there is no rehabilitati…

It could plausibly have a deterrence effect if other parents have their memories jogged by seeing the coverage of the court cases.

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#162

Post by nashashmi »

u801e wrote: post #146

Since 1998, the number of children who died of heatstroke in vehicles has been around 30 to 50 a year [1]. Before that, the number was a bit lower (10 or less) [1]. Around that time, the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) mandate on new vehicles having passenger side airbags as standard equipment came into effect. To address the issue of children dying due to airbag deployments (which were designe…

Looks like we will need an invention to prevent heat stroke deaths from children getting stuck in cars.

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#163

Post by ryan-allen »

icebraining wrote: post #67
nervousvarun wrote: post #41

As others have said this is a problem that in 2017 should already be solved by technology. But in the event you don't have access to a technological solution try this: If you have an infant in your car get in the habit of taking your shoes off and putting them next to the baby when you drive. When you reach your destination you might forget the infant...but you won't forget your shoes. Edit: My dad (who was an absent…

Eh, most countries don't have a non-pedal shoe - we use the other to operate the clutch :)

I drive barefoot, problem solved!

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#164

Post by dheera »

u801e wrote: post #146

Since 1998, the number of children who died of heatstroke in vehicles has been around 30 to 50 a year [1]. Before that, the number was a bit lower (10 or less) [1]. Around that time, the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) mandate on new vehicles having passenger side airbags as standard equipment came into effect. To address the issue of children dying due to airbag deployments (which were designe…

We have keyless entry, lane departure warning, cruise control, and even autopilot. Can't we have a stupidly simple system that if a human is detected in the car and the temperature is over 37 degrees C:

- 0. Call the car owner's phone or alert them through any communication app they use

- 1. After 5 minutes, call the police

Ether or both would save lives. It doesn't seem like a very difficult technical task to me.

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#165

Post by mmorearty »

lph wrote: post #136

Reading this article was heartbreaking. Becoming a parent changes you, or at least it changed me. I can no longer imagine harm to a child---as conjured in a written article, on a television show, or in a discussion---in an abstract way as I once could. It is now intensely emotional, as if it were happening to my own child in front of my eyes. This being HackerNews, I'm sure we're all thinking about fancy technologica…

I really like your idea, lph. Reminds me of "Why Japan's Rail Workers Point at Things" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14011793

My children are teens now, but I agree 100% that having children changed me in the same way that it changed you.

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#166

Post by snuxoll »

cjbprime wrote: post #155
m_mueller wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For anyone worried about SIDS I'd suggest looking into [1][2]. The counterarguments summed up in [3] seem rather weak to me. If the claim is true that in 10 years no parent following Sprott's method have had a case of SIDS (which no-one seemed to follow up on, even though the study seems quite solid to me), then the counter would have to explain why one should wait instead of just adopting that method. It seems a sim…

Looks super quacky. US cot deaths have also massively declined, and the trajectory of the decline matches up with the uptake of back sleeping for infants. http://www.npr.org/2011/07/15/137859024/rethinking-sids-many...

Every time I see a picture online or in-person of a baby laying in a crib with a blanket, stuffed animal and a crib bumper I want to smack them. For as much as the rate of SIDS has declined, there is still many more parents out there who are ill-informed or ignorant about safe sleep of their child.

I have seen people spend money on these Angelcare monitors while doing one or more of the above, it's insane!

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#167

Post by codinghorror »

nervousvarun wrote: post #41

As others have said this is a problem that in 2017 should already be solved by technology. But in the event you don't have access to a technological solution try this: If you have an infant in your car get in the habit of taking your shoes off and putting them next to the baby when you drive. When you reach your destination you might forget the infant...but you won't forget your shoes. Edit: My dad (who was an absent…

I love this story so much

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#168

Post by codinghorror »

rodgerd wrote: post #2

I read this when it was first published. The descriptions of what happened when children died of heat exhaustion gave me nightmares for weeks.

That one guy who silenced his car alarm three times. I think about that guy a lot.

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#169

Post by codinghorror »

Merad wrote: post #101
peferron wrote: post #76

I'm astonished to see many comments here on HN (albeit heavily downvoted) saying that if you're a "good parent" then it's easy—just don't forget your child in the car! It's like saying that if you're a "good engineer" then it's easy not to drop your production database instead of the development one—just don't ssh to the wrong host! I thought we were done with this way of thinking. Apparently not. Or maybe people thi…

I'm not surprised at all. Even though every rational person knows they're capable of making mistakes, acknowledging that you can easily make a major, major mistake - the kind that kills your child or your company - is a scary thing. I think some people just prefer to lie to themselves rather than than having to deal with it.

Yes this is the whole point of the article: https://blog.codinghorror.com/they-have-to-be-monsters/

It may be one of my very favorite, albeit darkest, things I have read on the internet. It won a Pulitzer for good reason.

Re: Forgetting a Child in a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? (2009)

#170

Post by StephenConnell »

dheera wrote: post #164
u801e wrote: post #146

Since 1998, the number of children who died of heatstroke in vehicles has been around 30 to 50 a year [1]. Before that, the number was a bit lower (10 or less) [1]. Around that time, the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) mandate on new vehicles having passenger side airbags as standard equipment came into effect. To address the issue of children dying due to airbag deployments (which were designe…

We have keyless entry, lane departure warning, cruise control, and even autopilot. Can't we have a stupidly simple system that if a human is detected in the car and the temperature is over 37 degrees C: - 0. Call the car owner's phone or alert them through any communication app they use - 1. After 5 minutes, call the police Ether or both would save lives. It doesn't seem like a very difficult technical task to me.

I am not sure detecting humans is the right solution... But -2. Open the windows -3. A/C...
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