Woman Confronts Mom For Leaving Her Baby In The Car With The Windows Rolled Up To Pick Up A Drink In Starbucks
The number one thing parents are warned about is to never leave their children in hot cars.
@melissajoyledman / TikTok In a TikTok video, Melissa Joy Ledman was quick to take into consideration the phrase, "If you see something, say something," after witnessing a mother walking into Starbucks while leaving her child unattended in her car.
Ledman confronted a mom who left her baby in the car with the windows rolled up to pick up a drink at Starbucks.
Ledman's video starts as she walks into the Starbucks after having been outside in the parking lot and noticing that someone in the store left their baby in their car. "Hey, who has a tan Chevy?" she asked, panning her camera around to everyone standing around in the Starbucks.
"I do, Is my baby crying?" one woman who had been waiting for her order spoke up, immediately leaving the store and heading out to her car. As the mom walks to the car, Ledman informs her that she should bring her baby inside with her, since it's hot outside and she left the windows rolled up.
The baby's mom rolls down the windows to the car, but still leaves her baby inside, telling Ledman that it's "not a big deal" and to mind her business. However, Ledman refuses to let the situation go and starts asking the Starbucks employees if they can call the police.
"Can you call the police? She left her baby in the car while she was in there with all the windows rolled up," Ledman explained to the bystanders standing around. "The car is not on." As Ledman continues to advise anyone around who is seeing this to call the police, the mom ends up leaving the store altogether and driving away.
"Cops were called but this woman parked next to me leaving her baby in the car. No ac. Windows up. DON’T LEAVE BABIES IN THE CAR ON PURPOSE!" Ledman wrote in the caption of her video.
Parents are constantly urged not to leave their children in hot cars.
On average, 38 children die in hot cars each year in America — one death every nine days, according to the safety organization Kids and Car Safety. Their organization, alongside the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, recently urged the US Department of Transportation to see that child protective provisions are added to the Congressional infrastructure bill.
Even on a moderately warm day, the temperature inside a parked car can rise rapidly to dangerous levels. This can lead to a variety of health risks, particularly for young children whose bodies are more vulnerable to extreme temperatures.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety reported that since 1960, 1,000 children have died in hot cars nationwide, and 56% of children who died in hot car-related incidents were left in the vehicle by accident. The majority of children (87%) who have died after being left in hot cars are aged three and younger, while just over half (54%) were still infants.
It's important that as a parent, you are making sure that you're taking the necessary precautionary measures and removing a child safely from a parked vehicle no matter what, even if you think you're only going to be gone for less than a minute.
In the comments section, multiple people agreed that the mother shouldn't have left her child in a car with the windows rolled up.
"Why didn’t she go to one with a drive-thru? If that one doesn’t have one I always find Starbucks with [a] drive-thru, especially if I have my son with me!" one TikTok user questioned.
Another user added, "I can't believe she seriously rolled the window down and just went right back in, even for a second. Thank you for speaking up."
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.