Police Save Toddler Left Alone in Hot Car at Flint Secretary of State [VIDEO]
Bystanders watch in disbelief as police respond to reports of a toddler left unattended in a hot vehicle with the windows rolled up in Flint for what was said to be almost an hour, possibly longer.
According to Tony Weber, the voice behind the camera, the vehicle in question had all of the windows up and contained an unattended toddler who was screaming and crying, all of which was later confirmed in the video. Weber also deduced that the owner of the vehicle had to have been in the Fenton Road Secretary of State for at least 50 minutes because that location locks their doors at 12:00p on Saturdays and the video was taken at 12:49p.
An officer from the Metro Police Authority of Genesee County arrived on the scene shortly before the video begins, and not too long after the officer checks the vehicle, the owner shows up. As the woman opens the door and gets the crying child out of the vehicle, you can hear the officer telling her that CPS (Child Protective Services) is about to be involved, as they should be.
Had the police not been called to the scene, who knows what could have happened? Between 30 and 50 children have died from vehicular heatstroke every year in America for the last 20 years. It's a horrible statistic because it's such an easily preventable tragedy. Children have died from vehicular heatstroke with outside temps as low as 60°F. Even if the windows are cracked a vehicle can reach temps of 125°F, which is too hot for adults, let alone children.
You hear about this all the time and think, "who could be stupid enough to think doing something like this is okay?" Honestly, I believe the answer is nobody. Nobody is stupid enough to think this is safe for a child. In my opinion, people that do this are straight up trying to kill their child. If you don't know that this is wrong -- you should not have a child. Period.
Do not leave children in hot vehicles.