5-year-old girl left in cab !

sara · Jul 29th, 2009, 03:27 pm

Quote:

Boston hack almost takes blame for forgotten child

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.

Boston hack almost takes blame for forgotten child - Yahoo! News

Hmmm,who you think should be blamed for this?The parents or the cab driver?
That's strange to know how could those parents forget their child in the cab.

Blonde Baji · Jul 30th, 2009, 06:40 am

The parents ofcourse !!!

sara · Jul 30th, 2009, 08:35 am

^ Yeah, but you see, the cab driver had been blamed for this!

saathi · Jul 31st, 2009, 03:42 am

hi . in some situations , you cannot blame the parents . you never know what the situation is , maybe they argued or are in the middle of some bitter times between them . parents take half the responsibility . it could happen to anyone and it is easy to place the blame on parents . cab drivers should be checking their vehicles after every drop off . i think most cab drivers don ' t even follow what they are supposed to do .

sara · Jul 31st, 2009, 09:59 am

^ Yeah, but still how could those parents manage to forget their child in the cab?That's really strange.Even if they might had some arguments or anything,they shouldn't have forgotten that they had their child with them.That shows the irresponsibility of those parents.

Blonde Baji · Jul 31st, 2009, 10:01 am

I disagree Saathi !
Whatever the situation is , the child belongs to the Parents & Not the cab Driver.It is the complete responsibility of the parents.
Yes,If such a thing happens at the school then the school authorities can be questioned because the parents entrust their children to the school authorities when they send their child to school.
But in the situation as sara posted the total responsibility is of the parents !!!

As for what you said that the parents may be going through some bitter times or might have argued etc ..that's not a valid reason to forget a CHILD !!!

These bitter times & arguments are what leaves the children into an emotional wreck!!!

sara · Jul 31st, 2009, 10:05 am

^ Exactly!I completely agree with BB!

saathi · Jul 31st, 2009, 03:03 pm

blonde baji , i would not put myself in the shoes of those parents because i don ' t know what took place . all it said is they left their child in the cab , the police have not investigated the behavior of the parents prior to the drop off nor the cab driver has been asked about the two passengers . on the other hand , the child does belong to the parents and ultimately they share the blame for leaving the child behind . it shows that they were irresponsible , and they share the blame because we do not know how the parents behaved prior to getting off the cab .