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November 27, 2009

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Letter: Babies pay high price for parents’ mistake

Thursday, July 26, 2001 | 9:52 a.m.

As horrible as I'm sure we all agree it is when a baby dies in the oven of a locked car, I'm not sure there isn't some denial going on still.

Last June a TV news anchor referred to the baby "left sleeping" in the back seat. I doubt that he meant to imply the baby died peacefully in his sleep, but it could be construed that way and cause complacency.

In 1998, while on a job in Arizona, I read news articles about a 4-year-old girl whose father left her in the car while he collected bottles or something. Before she died, she pulled out fistfuls of her own hair in her agony.

I'm resigned that the latest set of parents probably won't be charged. I understand the reasoning of the law, and I understand sometimes your brain betrays you, so you forget your baby as easily as you forget your car keys.

But I wouldn't want to sugarcoat one bit of that agony for the parents or any parents in the general public who might now make mental or written lists. "Did I just leave my car keys in the car? No? Great. Did I just leave my baby in the car? No? Great." Motivation. Spare your child that agony.

KRISTIN D. NORTH

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