{"id":7101,"date":"2017-08-07T11:21:03","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T17:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=7101"},"modified":"2017-08-07T12:19:05","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T18:19:05","slug":"much-childs-life-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2017\/08\/much-childs-life-worth.html","title":{"rendered":"How much is a child’s life worth?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"By<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Tribune article<\/a> on children left in hot cars features a proposal to require that all new cars include some sort of visual and audio warning device so that parents won\u2019t forget to take their babies out of the car. \u00a0Whether it\u2019s a recognition that a rear door was opened just before the start of the trip, but not after the end of the drive, or a recognition of a \u201cbreath\u201d in the backseat, advocates, or, specifically, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, say(s), \u201cMy car reminds me when I get out of the car and the keys are in there \u2014 how can we not remind the driver to check the backseat?\u201d<\/p>\n

As it is, an average of 37 children have died from being left behind in cars every year since 1998. \u00a0Statistics from Kidsandcars.org<\/a> show no discernible pattern except that the numbers have been increasing. \u00a0(The Trib article suggests this is due to global warming, but this seems improbable; maybe the advent of smartphones caused increasing numbers of parents to be distracted, e.g., by having a phone call on the way to daycare\/work.) \u00a0They also show a breakdown, that 55% percent of deaths were due to a child being forgotten (or a parent committing murder but successfully convincing everyone it was an accident), 28% were children who \u201cgot in on their own\u201d (e.g., were playing unsupervised but then either locked themselves in or fell asleep) and 13% were intentional (whether that includes the \u201cI thought my kid would be fine\u201d or just the homocides, I don\u2019t know).<\/p>\n

But do the math.<\/p>\n

There were 17.5 million new cars<\/a> sold last year.<\/p>\n

Assume that this enhancement technology costs $1,000 per car.<\/p>\n

Assume that all 38 * 55% percent of the kids who die\u00a0are saved by this technology.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a cost of 833 million per life saved.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an extreme case. \u00a0We could say that the tech costs $100; then it\u2019s 83 million per life saved. \u00a0If we assume that the go-in-on-their-own lives are also saved, that brings the cost-per-life down, too, and we\u2019re at about $50 million.<\/p>\n

And, again, this is all for something that\u2019s the result of human error in the first place. \u00a0And some of those lives saved have to be balanced out by the marginal cost meaning that, for some number of people, this will tip the scales to keeping an older, less safe car for longer.<\/p>\n

If this weren\u2019t a quick lunchtime post, I\u2019d dig up more background, on whether there are already metrics in place for this sort of thing (though this particular legislation doesn\u2019t seem to care), or whether any of this technology exists in the first place to give some idea of its cost. \u00a0(It seems not to, though, or I imagine it would have been mentioned; back-up cameras, the mandate for which is coming up, are currently available as an option.)<\/p>\n

Plus, there\u2019s always the issue of risk compensation \u2014 if people think of this as a guarantee, and take for granted that they\u2019ll be warned, and drop any other \u201cdon\u2019t forget the kid\u201d measures they had previous adopted, then it might not have the hoped-for effect.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, perhaps it will turn out to be a low-cost item. \u00a0After all, the solution for kids being stuck in trunks, turned out to be a low tech glow-in-the-dark trunk release.<\/p>\n

And if it weren\u2019t mandatory, how much would you pay for a warning device, if you have small children of your own, or if you don\u2019t? \u00a0What if there were an aftermarket device, or an app paired with the carseat?<\/p>\n

But as it is, I\u2019ll just leave it as a discussion item.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image: \u00a0By Carin Araujo, http:\/\/www.prtc.net\/~carin (Stock.xchng #197853) [Copyrighted free use], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s Tribune article on children left in hot cars features a proposal to require that all new cars include some sort of visual and audio warning device so that parents won\u2019t forget to take their babies out of the car. \u00a0Whether it\u2019s a recognition that a rear door was opened just before the start of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":1385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[455,706,707],"class_list":["post-7101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cars","tag-cost-benefit","tag-regulations"],"yoast_head":"\nHow much is a child's life worth?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today's Tribune article on children left in hot cars features a proposal to require that all new cars include some sort of visual and audio warning device\" \/>\n<meta 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