The Ashburton community is rallying to support the family of a mother and three young children who died when a car was left running in a garage connected to a house.
Police believe the woman was checking the house for family and friends who were away and started the car belonging to the house owner in the garage to charge the battery.
The garage door was closed but the internal door connecting the garage to the modern air-tight house was open.
The woman, believed to be in her 30s, was found in the hallway near the garage, and her three children, believed to be pre-schoolers, were found sitting on couches and chairs in the lounge with the television they were watching still on.
petal_91,
Jul 4, 1:02pm
That's sad.
Maybe it is time to think about requiring all homes to have Carbon Monoxide (CO) detectors installed that sound an alarm when CO builds up? In California all homes with an attached garage, fireplace or fuel buring appliance are required by law to have a battery detector or a hardwired one in new builds.
You can buy a battery operated CO detector which is similar to a smoke detector from places like Bunnings for about $60. These would be a good idea for any home with an attached garage I think.
Education of the dangers of running any internal combustion engine in an enclosed space needs to be emphasised.
ceebee2,
Jul 4, 3:05pm
And the vehicle couldn't have been a late model one fitted with a catalytic converter or it wouldn't have happened. Really sad.
tamarillo,
Jul 4, 3:12pm
Really?surely 99.99% people know this and no amount of education will reach the rest, or am I completely out of date with people's basic knowledge?
sr2,
Jul 4, 3:13pm
Woops, sadly a catalytic converter won't remove carbon monoxide.
chas10,
Jul 4, 3:31pm
Yes very sad story. Leaving it idling wouldnt have charged the battery anyway if it was flat. The fact it started probably meant battery was ok. Such a shame she didnt open up the garage door. Maybe she thought it was too cold.
bwg11,
Jul 4, 4:41pm
Bit OT, but a friend is a rural mail contractor running diesels. He has just built a new house and deliberately did not have an internal access triple garage as in his previous house he claimed, "the stinking diesels stunk the house out".
gammelvind,
Jul 4, 4:48pm
Out of date Tam, there are many many out there who have no clue. Indian family in Auckland running a generator in their garage a couple of years ago and those idiots making P in a cave in the Coromandel using a generator killed themselves, though that one was a win for a Darwin Award.
sr2,
Jul 4, 4:51pm
+1, it's a different world we live in. Even post #4 (no offence intended ceebee2) is a classic case of well intended misinformation that could kill you.
tweake,
Jul 4, 6:26pm
catalytic converters on the newer diesels take a bulk of the smell out. remove the cat and you will soon smell the difference.
franc123,
Jul 4, 6:32pm
Not to mention those huffing the butane from canisters in their car and then deciding to light fags. I was wondering how far into this thread the D word would get mentioned.
tamarillo,
Jul 4, 6:57pm
Ok, I'm out a date! Scary.
phalanax,
Jul 4, 7:43pm
Im wondering if the vehicle responsible isnt keyless-pushbutton start. easy enough to forget to turn it off or think you have and disaster happens, especially if the vehicle engine doesnt make alot of noise when its idling . Wonder if manufacturers have really done their maths on keyless or proximity etc. Maybe for instance if the car is not moving and still going but in park the engine should shut off after a certain period of time.
lusty9,
Jul 4, 8:51pm
or better still; ask the driver if he or she is starting it to charge battery and if so to open the garage door. Sheesh lets stick to the subject poor lady and her babies rip.
pauldw,
Jul 4, 10:44pm
A catalytic converter can convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. Whether this is likely if the car is just started and idled is another story as the cat needs heat to operate. Running in a closed garage would also reduce the oxygen needed for the cat to work.
bjmh,
Jul 5, 5:09am
I initially thought this story a very sad no-brainer . but there are a lot of people who don't understand the dangers of engines running and even BBQ's/cookers in enclosed areas.
bill1451,
Jul 5, 6:24am
Or the freestanding warehouse type lpg heaters in a unventilated room, recipe for disaster.
tweake,
Jul 5, 8:29am
i doubt it would get hot enough to work properly. if the co didn't them then co2 would have.
modern cars are quiet, not a lot of exhaust smell, easy enough to forget its running.
there has been a lot of people die from using gas heaters in caravans etc.
its certainly tragic. poor kids RIP.
elect70,
Jul 5, 9:33am
First report says owners asked her to run the engine to keep battery charged . How plod found this out is strange as cant ask questions of dead people .
tweake,
Jul 5, 9:36am
? they asked the owners of the house. the deceased where minding the house while owners where away. i don't envy them coming back home.
superbi,
Mar 25, 9:05pm
My car has keyless start , and if i get out and leave it running the alarm beeps.I would have thought that this applied to all ?!
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