Drivers are frequently reminded not to leave belongings in their vehicles, but some have tragically forgotten something more precious – their own babies.
In January, a heart-wrenching incident occurred when a five-year-old girl lost her life after her mother unintentionally left her in a parked car at Hospital Shah Alam in Selangor.
The mother, a 32-year-old hospital staff member, had picked her daughter up from a daycare centre around 2pm and inadvertently left her in the car. She only realized her mistake after her husband called her at around 6pm.
A similar tragedy took place in November when a two-year-old girl passed away after being left in a car for over seven hours. The police reported that the child’s mother had planned to drop her off at daycare after dropping off her other two children at school.
However, she got distracted by online business transactions while parked near the daycare centre and forgot to drop the child off, as stated by the police in a Nov 9, 2023, statement.
Two other heartbreaking incidents occurred in October 2023. A 16-month-old girl lost her life when her father accidentally left her in a vehicle at a car park for several hours. Similarly, an eight-month-old infant sadly died after her mother forgot to drop her off at the nursery before going to work.
Speaking on these tragedies, Selangor state executive councillor for women’s development and social welfare, Anfaal Saari, announced plans for a campaign to address child safety in vehicles.
Anfaal mentioned that the campaign, involving multiple public and private sector participants, is set to launch on March 21.
Many may not be aware that vehicles already come equipped with tech solutions to prevent incidents of leaving infants in cars, such as rear car seat reminders.
In 2016, General Motors introduced a rear seat reminder to alert drivers to passengers in the backseat. This feature, standard in the 2017 GMC Acadia SUV model, emits a chime if a rear door is opened and closed within 10 minutes of the vehicle starting or while the engine is running.
