Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Susan Snyder: Cars, kids are never a good mix

Susan Snyder's column appears Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at [email protected] or (702) 259-4082.

WEEKEND EDITION

Dec. 27 - 28, 2003

Jody Esposito didn't have much of a choice.

Her 5-year-old son, Michael, crawled into the trunk of a car while playing hide-and-seek in May 2001. And he died there.

But many parents do have choices. Their children don't have to be left unattended in cars. Yet, it still happens.

Two days before Christmas this year, a mother left her 8-year-old daughter alone in a car and left the keys in the ignition.

She was only going to be inside the Tropicana Avenue 7-Eleven for a few minutes. But it was long enough for a man to steal the car and the child inside it.

Thankfully, the thief dropped off the girl -- unharmed -- in front of a saloon less than a mile away.

As of this writing, the Clark County district attorney's office was debating whether to press charges against the mother for knowingly leaving her child unattended in a vehicle.

But the issue isn't about what choices the D.A. makes. It's about the choices adults make as parents and caretakers, said Janette Fennell, director of Kids and Cars.

The national nonprofit group educates the public about the perils children face when left unsupervised around motor vehicles.

Earlier this year, Fennell's group worked with Nevada Sen. Valerie Wiener on a bill that called for educating or fining adults who left children 7 and younger unattended in vehicles. The bill died in the Assembly.

Wiener already is working on a similar measure for 2005. And if she isn't re-elected in November, she says she will have another sponsor lined up.

The defeated measure would have given parents a choice between a class or a fine, Wiener said. It is hoped most would choose the education.

"I sense that the people who do this have done it before," the senator said.

The trick is educating them before a tragedy occurs.

Many adults honestly don't realize what can happen when they leave children alone for "just a couple of minutes." The Kids and Cars website (www.kidsandcars.org) has nine categories of tragedy, each with its own list of news stories from across the country.

They include children being kidnapped, dying from heat exposure, being strangled by power windows or stolen with vehicles. And 10 percent of unattended children die as a result of putting cars into gear -- either by accident or design.

Esposito testified in favor of Wiener's measure before a Nevada Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in February. She said Tuesday she will support the measure again in 2005.

Until then, she said, Anderson Dairy representatives are considering placing Michael's picture on milk cartons to remind adults not to leave children alone. Palm Mortuary may feature him on its series of "We'd rather wait" billboards that promote public safety issues.

Esposito said it will be hard to see her little boy's face at every turn. But if it helps even one parent make a different choice -- a better choice -- just one time, it's worth it.

Esposito would give anything to have had a choice.

"A child's life is worth more than a couple of seconds. I would rather take my child in (to a store) than lose my child," she said.

"You lose that child for life."

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