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Infant's death ruled an accident after being left in hot car; memory scientists give possible explanation
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BATON ROUGE - The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office ruled an infant's death an accident after a parent forgot the child in the backseat of a car in July.
The parent told deputies they intended to bring the child to daycare before work, but it was not until they went to pick up the child at the end of the day they realized the child had been left in the vehicle all day.
Director of Kids and Car Safety Amber Rollins says the majority of these cases are accidental.
"The overwhelming majority of these cases happen when an otherwise loving responsible parent loses awareness that their child is in a vehicle," Rollins said.
She says they've worked with memory experts and neuroscientists who say the brain can go into autopilot when you've created a habit, like leaving home and going straight to work every day. A change in routine, like dropping off a child at daycare instead of going straight to work can hinder the brain's ability to adapt.
"Every single one of these cases where children are unknowingly left behind there was a change in routine," Rollins said.
The group compared statistics between child vehicular heat stroke deaths versus child front seat passenger deaths starting in 1990. In the late 1990s, children were being moved to the back seat of cars to avoid frontal airbag deployment, and since then child vehicular heatstroke deaths have increased.
"These children are out of sight of the driver, they're silent. they've fallen asleep. The driver can't see them. The driver can't hear them, the driver's functioning in autopilot mode because they're sleep-deprived, and that is how a loving, responsible parent can drive from home to work never realizing they never dropped the baby off at daycare," Rollins said. "This was a direct unintended consequence of moving children out of sight of the driver."
In Jennings, police arrested Hannah Faith Cormier, 32, on a charge of second-degree murder after the death of her 10-month-old. The child was left in a car for 90 minutes while she was at work. Police said evidence showed the woman knew the baby was in the car.
Since 1995, Louisiana has seen at least 45 children die from being left in hot cars, making it the sixth-highest state in the country for these tragic incidents.
Rollins couldn't speak about the case but did say that when a case is accidental, parents shouldn't be prosecuted.
“We really believe, full-heartedly, that when this is truly accidental the parents should not be charged, they are going to live with this incredibly tragic mistake trying to figure out how this possibly could have happened to them every day for the rest of their lives. And there is no jail sentence or criminal charge that will be worse than the punishment that these parents inflict on themselves," Rollins said.
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