Has This Happened to You? D

You know, whenever a child dies in a car, people always ask why nobody did anything, called the police, whatever, if they saw it. I think most people just walk away, wondering if *they* did the right thing by walking away and not calling for help. I am not a fan of calling the police for many things, but I really think you had no choice here. Hopefully, the mother was able to see her huge error in judgement and will never do it again.

When it's 89 degrees out, the inside of a car (not running with ac on) can reach 150+ in 5 minutes. You did the right thing.

:(

YES! At my kid's school...And I called the police as well after I waited 10 mins! Don't ever feel guilty about something like that, you did the right thing!

Nope, I wouldn't feel bad at all, I do this often... DON'T LEAVE YOUR KIDS/DOG IN THE CAR!! I actually had a woman try to punch me in my face (right in front of the cops!) when I called because she left her NEWBORN BABY and 2 year old in her car, in 90 degree weather, in a REALLY bad area of town, the windows were completely up, AND... SHE STILL HAD A LIT CIGARETTE BURNING IN THE ASHTRAY... NEXT TO A TISSUE!! Could you imagine what would have happened had that caught fire?! Her whole car was trashed!! Those kids would be DEAD!! The newborn actually needed EMS to help her breathe; she was so little and it was too hot in the car, plus the cigarette smoke... EFFE YOU LADY!! I was livid. The police said I did the right thing, and they wish more people WOULD call on stuff like that. You did good :)

Good for you! Thanks for being so concerned!

No--but I would have done exactly what you did. First off, who leaves kids alone in a car and secondly, who doesn't see the news stories every year about kids dying in cars in extreme heat. I wouldn't worry about the "mom" getting into trouble. They walk among us. Thank God you stepped in for the sake of those kids.

I would have done the same thing. You waited 5 minutes before calling.

Good for you!!!!!
Yes and I didnt feel bad. I once called on a police sergant who was off duty but in his marked police suv and had the family dog in the back. He parked next to us and went inside walmart ( and we all know theres no such thing as a quick in at walmart) it was mid august so it was probably in the mid 90's outside. I called the police and reported it, and waited until they showed. He was furious when he came out but I didnt really care.

You ABSOLUTELY did the right thing! :)

You did the right thing. Please don't feel bad. It is important in situations like the one you encountered that we uphold the law and protect children and animals left in potentially dangerous situations. It's never acceptable to leave children or animals in cars unattended.

Good for you!

I think you did the right thing I would have called too. I would never leave my kids in the car, my granddaughter is almost 13 and I wouldn't even leave her in the car. With it being so hot no one or nothing should be left in the car due to the heat and it just isn't safe anyone could come by and snatch them.

T., haven't read the other responses, but you did the responsible thing and exactly what needed to be done so don't second guess yourself!! Who knows, you may have prevented a horrible and preventable tragedy -- good job!

You saved their lives and hopefully taught their owner a lesson! Don't feel one ounce of guilt! Tragedy struck a friend of mine who forgot her 2 dogs left in her car on one of the hottest days of the year. She was gone about 15 minutes to run in a store, then out, but it was too hot and they died. If you're not taking your pets out of your car when you go somewhere, they should not go. She feels terrible, guilt ridden and is in a total depressed state. She wishes someone had seen them and broken her window...

This has happened several times to me. We live in Missouri and have been having heat advisories left and right. I have called the police once ( for children being left in the car, and was told an officer would be dispatched Immediately. In this case yes, the car was left running but there were two kids one under age 3 and another child possibly age 5-ish, windows rolled up. I guess some people do not understand in this heat a car that is idling does not stay that cool. Once in a walmart parking lot I waited outside by a car with small children in it ( windows cracked open) a small baby in a car seat and an older child 4ish-5ish...when no one came out I went into the store and told a manager who assured me they would call the police asap and have an associate go stand out by the car. The third incident is honestly the one I feel the worst about, we were at a restraunt and we came out to see a dog locked in a car and we called the humane society and they had someone come out...I feel bad because anyone who is driving their doggy around probably loves them, but locking them in a car is so dangerous. I am hoping they got off with a fine or a warning.
I could NEVER live with myself if I looked on and did nothing and heard later on the news that a child or animal had expired and I had done nothing...do not feel guilty, you did the right thing.

You would have felt SO MUCH WORSE if you heard on the news about "something / anything" actually happening to them~ IF you didnt make that call ! You Could consider yourself a Hero :-)

I would of did the same, Parents any more are so careless and those kids could of DIED inside that care it could of been well over 100 and the parents need the kids taken away of they are so careless. I dont care if you have to run one child in to go potty or if it will only take a few seconds and the kids are asleep or not THERE IS NO EXCUSE WHEN IT COMES TO CHILD SAFETY Children ar eon the news all the time because of some carelss person and they melt to the seat DEAD!!!!! It is abserd for ANY one to leave a child or even an animal in a vehicle alone. I dont care if the child is 15 it is still careless!!

Good for you!! You may have saved some lives today. I've never seen kids in the car like that, but I have seen dogs left in cars that have worried me. I never know what to do. I am a dog lover.

Thank you for doing the right thing. You definitely should have called... Better she's in trouble than harm come to those kids. It's not that hard to take them out of the car.

You did the right thing. You waited to see if anyone was coming, and no one came. It doesn't take long for kids or animals inside what is essentially a padded metal box to get dangerously overheated.

You did the right thing! Dont let yourself feel guilty, theres no reason for it. You followed your instinct and like a good person you are you waited, and gave the parents the benefit of the doubt. They didnt come out, so what were you supposed to do? Like you said you would have felt horrible if you found out something happened to those children.

Feel good about what you did, hopefully those parents can see the good in what you did, and have learned a lesson and will think twice about leaving their precious children in the car, in such high heat.

Good for you for doing the right thing!

Wow! You might have saved their lives!
I wonder how old they were- were they in carseats?

Thats never happened to me, but believe me if it did I would do EXACTLY what you did! Good for you! Those kids and dog could've died! The parent SHOULD get trouble. Thats absolutely ridiculous!! This stuff is on the news all the time! I agree with XINE how would have felt if saw the story later on the news?
Don't you feel bad one bit!!!!

You did the right thing! way too hot out for kids in a car.

Once at my OB's i noticed a baby in the back of an dark tinted SUV in the parking lot. I waited for the mother to come out and mention it wasnt safe to leave a newborn out in the car, anyone could take her...then the dirver put me to shame when she said her mom was in the front seat LOL boy did I feel stupid. BUT in your case there was no one else in the car and you did teh right thing and protected those kids.

Yeah, I think you did the right thing! You tried giving her the benefit of the doubt, I mean you did wait a few minutes.

Oh my, you just saved that mom a "scariest mom moment". I hope she thinks better next time.

If it was 89° outside and the car was in the sun, you can bet it was way hotter than that in the car. Windows open a little bit can't do the job of cooling a car, because not only is "greenhouse" heat building up inside, but the dash, seats, steering wheel are all hot and giving off radiant heat as well. Temperatures can soar dangerously in a very short time. And small bodies are much more susceptible to overheating than adult bodies.

You did the right thing. Whatever the reasons, the parent that left the children and dog was wrong. Better to come back to police breaking into the car than finding a child in a coma, or worse. There's no bottom to that kind of trouble.

You did the right thing!!! I hope the parents got in a ton of trouble. The car heats up like crazy when it is that hot!! You did very well, don't feel bad at all!!

I have never seen this myself. I worry sometimes that it's because when I go places I always have 2-6 kids with me and my full attention is on them. If I thought that I walked by some kids and didn't see, I'd be sick.

You did the right thing...!!

I have done the same thing. You did the right thing. I think people too often turn a blind eye to something that is clearly bad & wrong.

i did the same before,, there were two kids arnd 8 in the car bouncing arnd for the time it took M. to go in and out of hte store and i'm not quick...i called and felt bad, but dn't regret it

Definitely would have called 911!!! You did the right thing. Never happened to me, but I would have called the police too.

In my opinion, it depends on the age of the kids and on how long the mom was gone. My mom had 5 kids, and she often left all 5 of us in our station wagon while she ran into the grocery store to buy milk or bread (not for BIG trips), or into the bank for a quick thing that couldn't be done from the drive-thru. The windows were always down, and my older brother was about 10, my sister 8, me 7, and the youngest kid 2 or 3.

Now, would I ever do it? Mmmmm, probably would not be comfortable with EVER leaving my kids in the car, as my oldest will try ANYTHING, is not afraid of strangers (he's 4 now, but even at 10 I wouldn't leave him.) I think you did the right thing. If she had a legit reason, she can sort it out with the police.

Just think if you had done nothing and saw them on the news later. Out of your few options, the one you chose was the best.

sometimes people need to be tattle tales

You did the right thing. Yes, I was at Michael's on a 100 plus degree day in Arizona one time last year. I was putting my baby in the car and noticed movement in the car next to me. It was a 2 -3 year old child in the back harnessed in, window slightly cracked, no air on. I looked into the car thinking maybe the caregiver was injured. No one. Pissed me off. Didn't want to jump to conclusions, you never know. So I went into my car and waited.I decided it had been at least 3 minutes since I had come to my car and noticed, so they got 5 minutes to get their butt out here or I was calling it in. They walked out 5 minutes later. I probably should've just called it in anyways, to teach them a lesson. Even if it wasn't hot, it is crazy to leave a young child alone. What the he!!

YOU DID THE RIGHT THING!!! I got out of the car at a resturant the other night as we were getting ready to leave. There was an infant carrier in the back seat, I just had to make sure there wasn't a child in it. I never could have forgiven myself if I'd ignored it and learned on the news the next day that something terrrible had happened. Thank heaven for responsible citizens like you!!

I used to live in the desert of Southern California where the temps in the summer were often 105 or above. I saw children in cars too often. They will Die in a hot car and even if the temperture is only in the 80's or 90's here the humidity makes it feel so much hotter. The inside of cars can climb into the 130's or higher before you know it. Do not fel guilty for calling the police. Better the parent get in trouble than the children die. One of my pet peeves is news reports telling you not to leave animals in cars and not mentioning children. Pets and children both die in hot cars. I always call the police when I see children left in cars. Around here, if it were the middle of January they could freeze to death.

Hell yes you did the right thing!!!

Good for you!

You did the right thing! It only takes a few minutes for a child or animal to die in a car with the weather we've had lately. Please don't second guess yourself. You may have saved their lives!

Yes, absolutely the right thing. This comment thread is making me really sad with how many stories of this happening... it's UNREAL!

My husband and I went to Best Buy a few months ago and he noticed a baby in the car next to us....no adult. The baby was young enough to still be in a backward facing carseat. Anyway, we told the guys at Best Buy and they watched out the huge window until Mom walked out. She had ran into Best Buy to get something....I couldn't believe it! Then, not too long ago my parents were out and they saw a DAYCARE VAN FULL OF KIDS and no adults! They saw a lady walk out to it, get the 2 oldest kids (probably 6 or 7) and go BACK inside a store! They said there were several babies buckeled up inside the van. They called the cops and then my mom called me to see if she did the right thing. Duh!! I hope that lady got caught and got her license taken away!! I would be FURIOUS if someone did that to my kid!!!

You absolutely did the right thing. I have never had this happen to me, but I would wonder what that mom was thinking leaving her kids in the car for any amount of time? I won't even leave my four year old in the car alone if I am just running in to pay for gas. everyone says, I will only be a second, but what they don't realize is it only takes a second for something to happen!

Good for you! A few weeks ago, a woman was charged with animal cruelty in Joliet because she left her two pit bulls in the car for an hour while she went furniture shopping. The dogs died. It doesn't take long for animals to die in hot cars. They can only sweat with their tongues so it's almost impossible for them to cool off.

And for them to leave kids in there as well!!??? Oh my. You did the right thing.

You did the right thing. I had to call one time on a guy yelling and swing his arm at the kids in the back seat. License plate number was all I needed.

It has not happened to me but I ABSOLUTELY think you did the right thing....thank you for taking the time to make sure those children were safe