Last month, a mother in China accidentally locked her child in her BMW. We have chronicled how common it is for parents to accidentally locked their child inside of a vehicle and the dangers of doing so. However, this situation is slightly different from some of the others which we have examined. Generally, once the parent has realized that their child is the car, they will do anything to get the child out as quickly as possible. In this case, firefighters were the first on scene, but the mother in this case did not want them to help her.
‘Wait for the Locksmith’
In most cases, a parent would have the first person available help to free their child. After all, it was a hot summer day and the child locked inside of the car was already beginning to sweat. Obviously, for this mother, that was not the top concern on her mind. She told firefighters on the scene to wait for a locksmith to arrive to open the BMW door. She claims this because she did not want them to break the window of her car, or do some other type of damage to the vehicle. At this moment the mother was valuing her BMW more than the safety of her own child who was locked in the vehicle.
The woman’s car keys were left in the vehicle, so all signs point to this occurrence being an accident. However, it is appalling that once firefighters arrived on scene the mother did not want the child removed immediately. On a hot day, the temperature inside of a vehicle can rise 20 degrees in just 10 minutes. Firefighters on scene when this child was locked in the car, honored the woman’s request despite the child crying and sweating inside of the vehicle. However, once the child passed out due to the high temperatures inside of the car, firefighters did break the window in order to retrieve the child.
Mother Speaks Out
Following the reporting of this story, the internet masses were quick to condemn this mother. Once reports were released, the mother of the child spoke out in defense of herself. She said that the reason she wanted the locksmith to open the door was that she was concerned that breaking a window may injure or scare her young child. The mother even claims that before the firefighters had arrived on the scene that she had attempted to break the window herself using a stone. Her response may go unheard in many internet circles which were quick to condemn and shame the mother.
No matter how these events went down, the whole situation is concerning. The child was locked in the vehicle nearly an hour before firefighters showed up, meaning that the mother is lucky to still have her child with her. In a situation like this, it would be highly recommended to break a window well before the hour time frame. When breaking a window, the window furthest from the child should be broken to avoid the chance that glass shards were to injure the child. In the United States, many police officers are able to open car doors, so it is wise to ask one if they are in the area. All-in-all, the key to keeping a child safe is a quick response when the child is locked in the car. For every moment that the child is locked in the car, the interior becomes that much hotter.