Rep. Randy Wood, R-Anniston, plans to introduce a bill in this upcoming legislative session that would require all day care facilities in Alabama to call a child’s guardian if the child is not at the center by 9:30 a.m.

Wood is hoping to reduce the chances of an accidental hot-car death caused by parents who mistakenly leave their children in their cars.

The bill, called the Cash Edwin Jordan Act, is named after an 11-month-old boy who died last year after being left in the back seat of a car with his twin sister. Their father forgot to take them to day care before going to work.

“I think if we can just save one child’s life, everything is worthwhile,” Wood said of his bill.

According to the National Safety Council, 51 children died in hot cars last year, three of those in Alabama. While Wood’s concern about hot-car deaths is viable, we’re not sure this is the way to go about it.

As written, the law would apply to any and all day cares in the state, even privatized ones. If a child that normally comes to the day care is not there by 9:30 a.m., the day care operators would be required to call the parents. If the operators have called all the numbers they have without success, then “they’ve done all they can do,” Wood said.

But here’s the real catch to a process that Wood believes will be easy to implement: Is it fair to hold day care operators responsible for something that is ultimately out of their control?

What happens on that hectic morning when there are a lot of late arrivals and the day care operator is scrambling at 9:30 a.m. trying to deal with parents who have last-minute directions to leave with the operators? And don’t forget the children who are already present who need oversight as well.

What if the day care providers just get so busy they fail to make a call for the one child that didn’t show up today? If that child becomes a victim of a hot-car incident, will the day care operators face a fine, or jail time, or civil lawsuits?

Is it fair to shift the responsibility for the welfare of a child to a third party? Shouldn’t that responsibility remain with the persons truly responsible for the child — the parents?

There’s also concerns about increased day care costs due to additional insurance, record keeping, and staffing, which because of the higher costs could push more kids into alternative situations that are less structured.

One child lost is definitely too many, and the intentions are good, but this bill is misguided.

— The (Florence) TimesDaily via Associated Press.