Originally Posted by DaveA:
My guess is a large part of it is the thermodynamics of the situations. The very thing that makes cars so lethal in summer (well insulated, absorbing large amounts of solar energy through windows) is a benefit in the winter. Cars probably cool down slower than they heat up. Plus even though they shouldn't, many/ most parents put kids in car seats wearing coats, further insulating the child.
Look at it this way- Lets say a person spends one hour in a car in a parking lot that changed 40 degrees from room temperature. In the summer that is 112 degrees, which can be lethal quickly to a child. In the winter that is 32 degrees- still potentially lethal, but at a much slower rate. It also reached 112 much faster than it reached 32, meaning more time at extreme temps. Plus in the summer you add the additional aspect of dehydration due to heavy sweating.
Do you think the total number of kids "forgotten" is the same in all months but we don't hear about the ones that survive because they aren't reported to the state, they are reported but it is handled as a child neglect case, or the news doesn't catch wind of it?
I'm trying to square how, if it is distraction and parental alienation due to not caring for them when they are awake, that there are more instances in certain months.
If there are not then we need to figure out what the cooler months and cold months do to parents that makes them not forget that doesn't happen in the hot months.