It’s too early to draw any conclusions case of death of a 5.5-month-old infant in Arta, who was left alone for several hours on Tuesday, tied to a car seat in a parked car, when his father was supposed to take him to kindergarten in the morning. The 37-year-old parent has been prosecuted for the deadly revelation and is expected to plead guilty tomorrow, while his lawyer spoke of a “terrible game of fate”. Even if not all aspects of it were covered, from the very first moment it was made public, the case was accompanied by a basic question: how could this happen?

The death of children in cars, mainly from suffocation and heat stroke, is a problem that has been observed, recorded and analyzed in recent years, mainly in the United States. OUR Amber Rollins she is the director of Kids and Car Safety, which focuses on studying and preventing these tragic events. “Each year, an average of 38 children die like this in the United States,” says “K”. He points out that since 1990 to date, more than 1,050 children have died in vehicles and that in 55% of cases the victims were left there through negligence. In 43% of these cases children they were supposed to be delivered that day to kindergarten or kindergarten. 88% of the victims were aged 3 years or younger. According to the statistics of the organization, in 15% of cases they were left in the car by the parent intentionally.

Overheat

The interior of the car quickly overheats. Even if there is a crack in the window, the temperature can quickly exceed 45 degrees Celsius. According to a report by an American organization, children in the US have died of heatstroke in vehicles even when the outside temperature was 15 degrees Celsius.

In foreign literature, the term “forgotten child syndrome” has been established for such events. For a period of Dr. David Diamond, professor of psychology at the University of South Florida, was one of the experts using this terminology. Now he doesn’t. “Because it’s like trying to treat it like a disease when it’s not.” indicated in “K”. “This is an example of how the human brain, no matter how unique, can make tragic mistakes.”

“On average, 38 children die this way in the United States,” says Amber Rollins, director of Kids and Car Safety.

Diamond studied related cases, each with its own differences and peculiarities. He reviewed relevant US cases, spoke with parents who lost their children in similar circumstances, and acted as an expert in the courts. He says that in cases where negligence is indeed established, the driver can usually follow a certain route in a car that he usually does not take with a child, and at some point ceases to be aware of the child’s presence in the vehicle. . “Factors that can contribute to the loss of awareness of a child’s presence in the car are stress and lack of sleep, which are common among parents of young children,” he says. “After reaching the destination, the brain creates a false memory that it left its child where it was supposed to be, in kindergarten. Then he spends the rest of the day at work, unaware that his child is in the car.”

No discrimination

Both Amber Rollins and David Diamond argue that there is no discrimination in who may be in such a difficult position. “These tragedies have happened to people of every social and economic background, of every age, race and nationality,” says Rollins.

In 2010, Washington Post reporter Gene Weingarden won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on the deaths of children left in the back of a car. In the course of his research, he found that such incidents in the United States involved, in particular, a dentist, a postman, a social worker, a policeman, an accountant, a soldier, an electrician, a nurse, a university employee. professor, pediatrician.

Deliberately

However, Weingarden noted that not all child deaths from heatstroke in vehicles are identical. Not all of them are due to memory gaps that a generally good parent would have. There were also cases, he mentioned in his report, in which previous neglect or substance abuse was found. Sometimes parents deliberately left their children alone in the car, despite the obvious danger. In one case, described in a text by an American journalist, a mother decided to use her locked car as an alternative to kindergarten.

Affordable technologies that could be life-saving

Lynn and Jarrett Balfour took turns driving their nine-month-old son to kindergarten. However, on the morning of March 30, 2007, Lynn had to make this trip due to an emergency because her husband’s car was unavailable. On this day, another change took place. Move the child seat to its new position behind the driver’s seat. After driving her husband to work first, she received a phone call to answer two important phone calls en route: the first was from a relative who needed her help, and the second was about an urgent work matter. After the end of the second call, her son slept peacefully in his chair, and she no longer noticed his presence.

She arrived at work leaving the baby in the car, thinking she had already passed the nursery. Until a few hours later, she herself noticed him in his place. The cause of death was determined to be heat stroke. The mother was charged with manslaughter. On January 25, 2008, he was acquitted by the court.

This case is described and reviewed in his publication by David Diamond, a professor of psychology at the University of South Florida, who has dealt with similar incidents for the past two decades. He notes that the mother was sleep-deprived and stressed from two emergency phone calls while driving. He also put the baby’s bag in a different place than usual in the car. David Diamond also notes that each case must be considered on the merits, given the unique circumstances and factors that may be relevant to or influence each case.

Amber Rollins, director of the American organization Kids and Car Safety: refers to “K” that there is already technology that could prevent such tragic events. “Available for select Kia and Hyundai models in the US. We think we need a system that can detect a child and not just remind the driver to check the rear seats.” These are special sensors that are placed at the rear of the car and can detect movement inside the car. They are activated automatically after parking and warn the driver, usually with audible signals. In a May 1 statement, the organization urged the US authorities to expedite the passage of relevant legislation and make it mandatory to use similar protective technologies in cars for these accidents.

“The families of the victims suffer excruciatingly for the rest of their lives,” says Rollins. “In the US, about half of these cases involve criminal charges and welfare investigations. Many parents lose their jobs, marriages break up. These cases are not easily accepted by the public. It is difficult for some to accept information about existing risks, because they believe that it does not concern them.”