Dang...

[t_stalcup]

I can't begin to imagine what the father felt like when he realized what had happened. We don't know all the circumstances. Can only imagine that perhaps the father did not usually drop the baby off at daycare and this was not part of his regular routine. We just don't know and to jump to conclusions with blame is wrong. I am sure that the family is suffering enough. I am not justifying what happened, but have some sympathy for the grieving, and feel for the poor child.

 

[deMontjoie]

I can't begin to imagine what the father felt like when he realized what had happened. We don't know all the circumstances. Can only imagine that perhaps the father did not usually drop the baby off at daycare and this was not part of his regular routine. We just don't know and to jump to conclusions with blame is wrong. I am sure that the family is suffering enough. I am not justifying what happened, but have some sympathy for the grieving, and feel for the poor child.

Agree 100% with everything that you said above. Pray for the whole family.

 

[Navyblue]

I work in bulding 2187 and I saw the emergency services in the parking lot that afternoon. It was very disturbing and made me sick to my stomach.

 

[LimaVictor]

More details emerging. So tragic...

 

[beretta_maven]

I know people that work in the building and they are sick that they didn't see it in time.

I used to work in bldg 2187 and have had many a meeting there over the past 10 years - the parking lot is huge, and always over-flowing. It is not surprising that no one saw the kid in the car, especially with a rear-facing seat.

 

[HappyCamper]

I know the guy and have worked with him. This is a horrible situation from every angle. My prayers are for the family.

 

[bohman]

This hits way too close to home. According to the rumor mill, his wife works in the building just across the parking lot from my own. I couldn't drive anywhere today without checking my backseat, which is ridiculous since my kids are many years past the infant stage. They'll get out of the car on their own and yell at me if I forget them.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...e0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html

I thought this was a thought-provoking article. I really don't know what the right answer is, do you charge a parent when this happens or not? I lean towards yes, just for the sake of making sure all parents know to prevent this, but on the other hand it seems like kicking someone when they're down already.

 

[letmeoutpax]

This article is very thought provoking. In some ways forgetting your child in the car is similar to people shooting themselves by accident. In other ways it’s totally different.

The guilty parties keep saying it can happen to anybody. The author notes the phenomenon crosses boundaries such as class, age, ethnicity, gender, and occupation. An expert notes stress, emotion, lack of sleep and change in routine can distract the conscious mind and normal activities get put on autopilot. One guy admitted his type A personality contributed. This is where we need to dig deeper.

Most any parent who enrolls their son in Cub Scouts would probably be described as loving, engaged, and attentive. The rule in older den meetings, however, seems to be that they bring the kid, then get absorbed in conversation or texting. In spite of a stated concern for the boys’ development, there are lots of jokes about the hassles of parenting and even open talk of electronic babysitters and the like. After the kids turn 9 or so, the parents pay a lot less attention during activities.

I keep coming back to how good training on various activities is designed to make safe behavior rote. Habitual thought patterns are what the autopilot reverts to. Without serious effort good things get ahead of best things. I would argue that the prototypical two-parent, one-income family has a lot of redundant child safety built in that covers many different threats.

In answer to the question of whether the parent should be prosecuted, it does provide a sense of justice. The guy in the article who had charges dropped is not doing any better than the ones who faced a judge. Serving a minor sentence or hearing a jury say “not guilty” could actually help them deal with it.

 

[Alan3413]

It's very very sad and something that will haunt the father for the rest of his life. There's probably nothing the law can do that's a worse punishment than what he's going through now.

Having said that, it is still negligence. If a surgeon accidentally kills your son on the operating table because he's having a really bad day, we may understand the circumstance, but still want justice, and probably a whopping big settlement. If someone for which you are responsible for dies because of your neglect, you are culpable. There is no excuse for negligence resulting in death.

 

[bohman]

I had a change in routine tonight that threw me off a bit. Wife had to work late, she had both kids with her and I picked up my son from her to take him to soccer. Daughter stayed with my wife (wife is a librarian and daughter is a bookworm, so no problem there). During the whole practice, I kept having to remind myself that daughter was safely with my wife, and it wasn't a problem that she wasn't with me. I finally realized that the reason I kept worrying that I forgot a kid was this case.

This case is really sticking with me in my subconscious, hopefully it's sticking with everybody else to and this won't happen again.