Recipe for disaster: a live bat, 2½-month-old baby on a lap, and a utility pole

[Dakota Valkyrie]

http://i31.tinypic.com/2aj0yhd.jpghttp://i30.tinypic.com/2m7fbd3.jpghttp://i25.tinypic.com/2z9mgiv.jpg
Ohio state troopers say a live bat is partially to blame for a car crash that injured a 2-and-a-half month old baby.

The baby's father, 18 year-old Louis Hardy, had picked up the bat because he was intrigued by it according to Sgt. Jeff Bernard of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and was holding it in one hand as he drove.

Then "The bat started to do something in the vehicle that distracted him," Bernard said.

The child was sitting in his mother's lap in the front seat of the car, unrestrained by either a seat belt or a car seat when the car crashed into a utility pole in Scio.

Ronald Wright, who lives near the crash site on Church Street, said the crash sounded like an explosion. "I seen the baby and I was really concerned about the baby, so I got 911 real quick and they got down here," said Wright.

A front seat airbag had deployed after the impact, injuring the baby.

"He kept having pains in the stomach area, so they decided they better rush it to Pittsburgh," said Ed Edwards, who witnessed the crash.

The child was airlifted to Pittsburgh Children's Hospital for evaluation. He was later released.

Hardy will be charged with failure to maintain control of his vehicle and operating a vehicle with no child restraint, police said. The couple will not be charged with child endangerment. "The law doesn't allow us to charge any type of neglect or child endangerment," Bernard said.

Hardy and the child's mother, Samantha Borland, 18, were taken to Harrison Community Hospital. Neither parent suffered serious injuries.http://www.koaa.com/news/wacky/x1570071937/Car-crash-blamed-on-live-bat-the-driver-was-holding

Add to the recipe: two very stupid (and very lucky) parents

[Pete Bondurant]

This would make a great film! Steve Buscemi could play the bat.

[Southern Lady]

This would make a great film! Steve Buscemi could play the bat.

True enough. There is a remarkable resemblance.

[coffee achiever]

Both 18, with a 2 1/2 year old. Wow. Doesn't sound like they've got a solid record of exercising good judgment.

[Chaindrive]

2 1/2 month old, not year old.

That would be really scary if the baby was 2 1/2 years old and they were that young.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Both 18, with a 2 1/2 year old. Wow. Doesn't sound like they've got a solid record of exercising good judgment.
2 1/2 MONTH old... not that it changes things much. Obviously they are 18 year olds that should probably made better decisions before the baby came along.

[coffee achiever]

Ah, got it. Thanks for correcting me! Gotta read more closely next time.

[Silvahalo]

Hardy will be charged with failure to maintain control of his vehicle and operating a vehicle with no child restraint, police said. The couple will not be charged with child endangerment. "The law doesn't allow us to charge any type of neglect or child endangerment...This happened in Colorado I believe, wtf? I'v never heard of such a stupid lack of law. I know where I'll be sending my nest petition to....complete bullshit. These parents walk away with little injury while baby could have been seriously injured or even killed. Now these morons will likely go about doing stupid things again, it will be a wonder if baby makes it to the age of 2 yo.

Heal completely little one.

[Pete Bondurant]

What I am most interested in is.........did the bat survive?

[Chaindrive]

This happened in Colorado I believe, wtf?

Ohio.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

... I'v never heard of such a stupid lack of law. ...
I got curious about that, too. It's not a LACK of law, but rather what the law says:

4511.81 Child restraint system - child highway safety fund.
[...]
(F) The failure of an operator of a motor vehicle to secure a child in a child restraint system or in an occupant restraining device as required by this section is not negligence imputable to the child, is not admissible as evidence in any civil action involving the rights of the child against any other person allegedly liable for injuries to the child, is not to be used as a basis for a criminal prosecution of the operator of the motor vehicle other than a prosecution for a violation of this section, and is not admissible as evidence in any criminal action involving the operator of the motor vehicle other than a prosecution for a violation of this section.http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4511.81

I checked on my state, Florida, and Utah. (I just picked 3 states) The law is similarly worded in all three states. I wonder why it is that way.

[Silvahalo]

I was seriously unaware of that. I don't know how I didn't know that as I had signed many a petition on adding/changing/reinforcing laws on infant restraints for children in vehicles.

Thanks for the info DV.

[cubby]

BATS!! UGH UGH AND DOUBLE UGH~~~

They used to nest in our chimney and we tried to block it up to keep them out of the house but they would still get thru and one night while barefooted I stepped on a baby crawling across the livingroom floor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still haven't gotten over how horrible that felt!!11:argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh::argh:

[Rockin Ma]

Something to charge them with...

Reckless endangerment?

Neglect?

Assault?

[Pete Bondurant]

Something to charge them with...

Reckless endangerment?

Neglect?

Assault?


Batslaughter!?

[smallwonder4]

Who the hell catches bats and drives around with it in his hand with his family in the car???? Even if it isn't rabid, might it carry parasites? What if it goes flying around the car and.... oh it did. Dumbass.

[carolinablue]

bats have rabies and cooties. and they are butt ugly. why would anyone, dumb, crazy or just plain weird pick up a bat? was he going to make a pet of it? if he is stupid enuf to do that, he is too stupid to have the baby.

[Rockin Ma]

http://www.myspace.com/borland_s

same name, same hometown, her age is different and those of her kids. Not sure if this is her.

[myra manes]

Batslaughter!?


Have we heard what became of the bat yet? :biggrin:

[RaVen Blackehart]

http://i31.tinypic.com/2881nok.jpg

[Harley_Tech]

bats have rabies and cooties. and they are butt ugly. why would anyone, dumb, crazy or just plain weird pick up a bat? was he going to make a pet of it? if he is stupid enuf to do that, he is too stupid to have the baby.

Stop that! Bats have no higher incidence of rabies than any other mammals.
There have been exactly two confirmed cases of bats passing rabies on to humans through bites. They eat bugs, not people.

Bats eat 2/3 their body weight in insects each and every night. One bat colony in south Texas eats over 200 tons of insects each night, mostly mosquito's.

The only way this guy was able to catch this bat is if it was sick. He is an idiot for messing with it and exposing his kid to it. The only idiot in this story, was driving the car.

R
*builds bat houses to attract them to my yard and has for many years*

[Dakota Valkyrie]

I am still waiting for hubby to build my bat houses. We have bats around anyway, so why not have 'em close and handy for eating the damn bugs. I don't like bats any more than i like bugs, but at least bats don't flit in hordes and attack me.

[Chaindrive]

The bats around my place come out at night to take a dip in the pool.

[Tazzzz]

This is from a bat lab in Ohio


http://a-s.clayton.edu/burnett/research/images/catchbat02.jpg


Here's the bat sitting on my hand. You can see the thin, black threads of the mistnet. Also notice something VERY important - I never handled these bats with bare hands! Bats are wild animals, and like all wild animals they will bite if they are threatened or provoked. A bat that has been caught in a net is both frightened and provoked, so I can guarantee it will try to bite. By wearing leather gloves, I can guarantee that the bat won't be able to bite me, leading to concerns about disease or infection from any bites. This also means I wouldn't have to get a bat tested for rabies (which requires killing it) so it's better for me and the bat to wear gloves.

http://a-s.clayton.edu/burnett/research/how_do_you_catch_a_bat.htm

[Tazzzz]

Personally I like Bats and swallows, I like watching them fly and grab stuff out of the air. I bring people out to some local caves and show them the bats. Then we wait for it to get almost dark and stand inside the cave mouth. Pretty soon 1000's & 1000's of bats are flying around you. you can hear them and feel them brushing up against you. You are totally surrounded by them.

Only thing you cant do is scream or freak out, Then your screwed. and they will poop and pee all over you. Or land on you and get stuck in your hair if its long. Trust me you don't want a couple of thousand bats crapping all over you.

[Rawrehz]

that bat looks like my husband.:crazy:

[Harley_Tech]

OK, so I stretched the bat rabies thing just a bit using old data. http://www.batcon.org/pdfs/faq/rabieschart.pdf

If you have any interest in learning about them like I do, have a look at bat conservation international.

If you ever get the chance, visit Austin's congress ave bridge around sundown and watch 1.5 million bats all depart for the nightly feeding. It is one impressive sight. http://www.batcon.org/index.php/get-involved/visit-a-bat-location/congress-avenue-bridge/subcategory.html?layout=subcategory


http://www.batcon.org/index.php/all-about-bats.html

R