Hey, it can happen to the best of parents, right? You pull into a parking lot with the intention of running into a store just for a second. You’re not planning to be gone long, so, rather than shlep the kids in with you, you crack the window (you don’t want some nut to take the little tykes, after all), and head inside to conduct your business, leaving them strapped “safely” in their car seats.
Sometimes, you get distracted. For one Pittsburgh-area mom, the distraction was a few drinks at an area bar. No one knows how long her 9-year-old twins were locked inside her car while Ontreace Stevens hoisted a few, but this was in early June. It’s not like we’re into the really hot months, when temperatures inside vehicles can surpass 120 degrees.
Mindful of what a burden children can be, the Washington Post ran a lengthy article on Sunday on the subject of kids and locked cars titled “Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?” The need to include the question speaks volumes.
Even more revealing was this promotional tweet for the article:
How to keep children from being injured in hot cars http://t.co/IMPLhEKbCd pic.twitter.com/TwDIe8OWCC
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 17, 2014
Shorter WaPo tweet: Put something important in the backseat … you know, to jog your memory. Just don’t make it too valuable. You don’t want to end up kicking yourself if something you really care about gets stolen.
