When a Car Does the Killing, It’s Always an “Accident.”

To the Editor,

I was struck by the juxtaposition of two recent articles in your newspaper. On Monday you reported that an 18-year-old woman was in jail on charges of endangering a child, because her 11-month-old was in a coma after a bathtub accident. She could face additional charges if the little girl dies.

Though "no one doubts [this was] a tragic mistake," a Brooklyn district attorney explained that in deciding whether to press charges, prosecutors ask themselves if the adult's behavior "constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe."

Today, you report that a five-year-old is dead in Lindenhurst. His mother moved her minivan, then "discovered her son...lying beneath a tire." No charges were filed.

Hello? Would not a "reasonable" parent of a five-year-old make sure she knew where her child was before moving a two-ton vehicle?

Though the cases occurred in two different jurisdictions, this is nevertheless an appalling contrast. We as a society seem to have decided that motor vehicles are quasi-autonomous beings, and the driver is almost never at fault when the vehicle mysteriously lashes out and kills someone.

Though I have no doubt that the Lindenhurst death was also "a tragic mistake," it would seem that both these mothers merit something between imprisonment and complete exoneration.

Mary-Powel Thomas Brooklyn, NY