A mother's failure to remember she left her 22-month-old son in the car on a summer day was a normal fallibility of the memory system of someone who was fatigued, stressed and distracted, an inquest has heard.
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Romy Zunde's son, Noah, was found lifeless in her car outside a Kyneton childcare centre about 3pm on February 19, 2015, when the temperature outside was over 30 degrees. He died of heatstroke.
Ms Zunde falsely believed she took Noah to childcare that morning, and went to the centre in the afternoon to collect him, only to be told she never left him there. She and a childcare worker then discovered Noah had been in the back seat ??? where he was not visible in the driver's rearview mirror ??? all day, while Ms Zunde was at home.
Noah could not be revived, the Coroners Court heard on Wednesday. Ambulance paramedics later recorded a body temperature of 40.6 degrees.
In the week before Noah's death, State Coroner Sara Hinchey was told, Ms Zunde had not slept well due to a bout of gastro, before Noah's older sister fell ill too. Noah had also had trouble sleeping because of teething, which increased the strain on his parents.
On the morning of February 19, Ms Zunde was "wiped out" through fatigue, Jodie Burns, the counsel assisting the state coroner, told the court.
Ms Zunde also faced several changes to her usual morning routine that day, as she drove her partner to the train station, which left her stressed, and then went home to do chores instead of taking Noah to child care, as he had only once previously been to child care on a Thursday.
A lack of visual and audio cues ??? Ms Zunde being unable to see Noah in his rear-facing child seat, him holding his lunchbox instead of it being in the front passenger seat and him staying quiet, most likely asleep ??? also meant she did not realise her son was in the car when she arrived home and went inside, the court heard.
Associate Professor Matthew Mundy, a neuroscientist who reviewed the case and gave evidence on Wednesday, said Ms Zunde's short-term memory system would have been affected by her lack of sleep, stressed state and changes to her routine.
He agreed with Judge Hinchey that forgetting a child was in the car appeared a far greater memory loss due to its potential for catastrophe, but the sort that could happen to anyone.
"Your brain at the neural level doesn't discriminate between (forgetting to post) a letter, a baby or remembering to pick up your mobile phone," Associate Professor Mundy said.
"I believe this type of memory failure could happen to literally anyone." Ms Burns submitted Ms Zunde not be held criminally responsible for her son's death based on the evidence. The homicide squad investigated but did not lay charges.
Associate Professor said it was likely many parents had previously forgotten where their children were, but that the outcomes were mostly inconsequential.
Ambulance Victoria figures showed paramedics were called to attend to 1907 children left in cars last year, and 28 of them needed hospital treatment.
Five children died in Victoria in the past decade after being left in cars, the court heard.
Associate Professor Mundy said the only effective way to ensure parents did not leave children in the car was a cue such as an alert system when the engine was turned off, as it was near impossible to improve people's memories.
Judge Hinchey said the "tragic case" appeared the result of "a perfect storm".
She said it was never safe to leave children in cars on hot days, given how quickly temperatures rose inside, even with the windows down.
She will release her findings at a later date.
