Forgotten Child In Cab

[Mitsuki]

BOSTON – A family picked up by a taxi at the airport left a sleeping 5-year-old child behind in the back of the minivan — and the cabbie almost took the blame for it.

Joseph Cohen, a taxi driver for 39 years, picked up the family at Logan International Airport on Sunday, drove them to their home in the city's Mattapan neighborhood, and helped them unload their luggage.
"They paid me, thank you very much, everything was nice, and I left," he said.

Minutes later, Cohen got a call from the cab pool at the airport. State police, who have jurisdiction over Logan, were looking for him.
He was told the family left a child in his cab.

"I said, 'What?' So I looked in the back and I see the baby sleeping. I said, 'What should I do?' So you know, I take the baby (back) to the family," he said. "The father came out. He was very happy."
He even gave him a $50 tip.

The following day, Cohen was ordered to report to the Hackney unit, where police told him his license was being suspended for three days because he didn't do a thorough check of the van. He appealed the suspension and was allowed to keep his license pending a hearing. On Tuesday, he visited the police station with an attorney and learned he would only get a warning.

"We are very happy that the baby was safely returned to mom and dad," said Elaine Driscoll, a police spokeswoman. "That said, it was an important opportunity to remind cab drivers why we have a rule that dictates they must check the back of their cab after every fare."

Cohen said the girl had been in the back of the van behind another seat and he could not see her from his rearview mirror or from the outside of the vehicle.

The cabbies' union expressed outrage at the proposed suspension, saying the fault should lie with the child's family, not the driver.
Police would not release the names of the parents but said they were not being investigated.

"I think the sad piece here is that the police are not recognizing the responsibility of the adults and are now saying this driver also has to be responsible for passengers who forget their children," said Donna Blythe-Shaw, a staff representative for the United Steelworkers Boston Taxi Drivers Association.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090728/ap_on_re_us/us_child_left_in_cab



So do you think it was right for them to blame the cab driver and suspend his license for three days for not doing a thorough check?

It's not fair that he's being punished for this; the parents are pretty dumb for forgetting their child in the first place. Kid comes first before luggage, jeez. They must have been hit by jet lag really bad.

 

[CassinoChips]

Why does there have to be blame passed around in this?

Yes, the parents are at fault for leaving their child behind. But they made a mistake, as parents often do. They recognized their mistake "minutes later," not hours later, not days later. And the baby was unharmed, none the worse for wear, and even still asleep. Travel is stressful, travel with children even more so, so I can cut them a bit of slack for each of them thinking the other one was taking care of the kid.

The cabbie does have some fault in this as well, because ultimately his cab and whatever/whoever is in it are his responsibility. But he made a mistake, a minor one at that, rectified it, and no one got hurt. And how often do parents leave their sleeping child in a cab? It wouldn't be the first thing on my list to check for.

The situation was resolved quickly and painlessly, so why would the cops even have to be involved? The cabbie wasn't kidnapping the kid, nor were the parents abandoning it. This is a situation where everyone is at fault, but no one is to blame. It's a mistake. They happen. No one needs to be raked over the coals for this.

 

[Bun]

I think a warning is fair enough for the cabbie, but only as a means to remind him to at least give the van a once over to make sure that no one had left anything behind. Anything more would be a little unreasonable seeing as how it wasn't entirely the cab driver's fault that the baby's parents are complete fucking idiots who would forget their child, of ALL things.

It seems that both parties took away a valuable lesson and since no harm was done and there was no ill intention beforehand, it should be left at that.

 

[M1ghty Mous3]

People these days don't like to take responsibility for their own crap. Blame the cabi, shit, the man did his job. It's the families job to make sure you have your baby with you when you leave a cab. Dumb, just pure dumb.

 

[Midnight Memoire]

Why in the world would they blame the cab driver? I mean sure, he should have done a better check but SERIOUSLY, who forgets their kid in a situation like that?!

If anytihng, the parents should be punished for not paying a bit of attention to their child not the cab driver.

 

[Donald Trump]

People these days don't like to take responsibility for their own crap. Blame the cabi, shit, the man did his job. It's the families job to make sure you have your baby with you when you leave a cab. Dumb, just pure dumb.

The family didn't shift the blame, it was the police who suspended his license and the family even tipped the driver.
I agree with CC, there's no need to apportion blame, wheh this is clearly just a mistake.

 

[blakstang98]

May I add a touch of realism to this? So the cabbie helps to unload this families luggage. Now who in their right mind decides to unload their luggage before taking their baby out? I mean, I think it would be more important to get the baby back into your house than luggage. Maybe I'm being brash about it, but why would they be more worried about their luggage than their baby? Their heads were not in the right place. Sure, no harm, no foul, but you DO NOT leave your baby as the last piece of "luggage" to be removed from the vehicle.

So should the cabbie be punished by suspension of his license? Absolutely positively not! Sure, he may have to inspect his vehicle afterwards, but if anything, he should be finding luggage left behind, not a BABY! Do you really think he figures "oh, I should check to see if they left a child behind"? NO, if they leave luggage behind, it wouldn't be a big deal! The cabbie actually delivered the baby back to the family, he could have taken off with it! He should be rewarded for his actions, not punished! But, this is a story showing how business people raise their children and how the law is corrupt. Like I said, brash, but that's how I feel!