Leaving toddlers in parked cars should be made illegal

THE ISSUE A 3-year-old girl has died from excessive heat after her father left her in his parked car in Makiki.

THE tragic death of a 3-year-old girl caused by excessive heat when she was left in a parked car in Makiki has made imperative the enactment of a state law against leaving children alone in vehicles. Such a bill was passed by the state House two weeks ago and appears headed toward Senate approval.

Sera Okutani died late Saturday morning from hyperthermia after being left by her father on the back seat of his car for an hour and a half, according to authorities. The outside temperature at the time was 81 degrees at Honolulu Airport, but the temperature inside the car probably rose to more then 110 degrees.

A bill awaiting legislative enactment would prohibit leaving a child younger than age 9 alone in a motor vehicle, with the violator facing a fine of up to $200. Stiffer fines could be imposed on repeat offenders.

A 2005 study published in the journal Injury Prevention found nationally that 171 children under 5 died from hyperthermia from being confined in parked vehicles from 1995 through 2002. More than half of the deaths occurred when adults forgot -- the explanation given to authorities by Sera Okutani's father -- or were otherwise unaware the child was in the vehicle.

Rarely are parents charged criminally in connection with children's deaths under such circumstances. A study by Kids and Cars, a national child safety advocacy organization, found that about one-third of parents in such cases are charged with manslaughter or neglect. The group counted 29 cases last year of children dying of hyperthermia in parked cars.

In Honolulu's most recent case prior to Saturday, the city prosecutor declined to bring charges against the mother of a 10-month-old baby who died after being left in a parked car for six hours while her mother was on the job in Kailua in October 2003. The mother said she had forgotten to drop off the baby at a babysitter's home in the morning and did not realize she was in the car. Prosecutors called it a terrible accident.

Janette Fennell, founding president of Kids and Cars, told the Star-Bulletin's Mary Adamski that technology called the Child Presence Sensor has been developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to alert a driver with flashing dashboard lights or warning beeps about a little passenger. However, it has not yet been marketed.

Until the add-on device reaches the stores, a driver is more likely to remember the young passenger's presence upon leaving the car if failing to do so could result in a fine. Hawaii should join California and other states that have such laws.