kids in cars

[sam]

I have noticed over the last couple of weeks that a lot of people seem to be leaving their children in cars whilst they are shopping, there was one child i saw last sunday in lidl's carpark in wick left whilst the parents went off shopping the child being not much older that about a year, and it was pretty hot outside the window had been left down about 2 inches,
being a parent myself i think that it is totally irresponsible to leave a child of any age alone in a car no matter if it is only for a short time. in this instance another member of the public was trying to find the parents
why do people do it?
surely they are aware of the dangers.
if anything were to happen to the child it would be everything else to blame except the parents

[mccaugm]

I tend to agree although it can be difficult if the child has just gone off to sleep unsettling them. But thinking about that,..sounds kinda selfish on the parents part.

What I take issue with is parents with unrestrained children in the car. I know the law is changing and ALL children under 135 cm must be in car seats or on booster seats. Law comes into force in September.

What I wonder is - does the new law apply to taxis and buses. Why is it OK to have a child unrestrained on public transport but not in a private vehicle. Surely the danger is just the same. I always strap my child on a bus although I am not keen on lap belts.

Any police online know what the law states?

[sam]

[quote=mccaugm]I tend to agree although it can be difficult if the child has just gone off to sleep unsettling them. But thinking about that,..sounds kinda selfish on the parents part.

i agree its totally selfish, what if the child choked, it only takes seconds for something like that to happen and nothing is worth risking a childs life

[George Brims]

Here's a tip for all of you with small kids, whether you leave them alone in the car (well you're all too smart to do that I am sure), or just let them loose while you're parked waiting for someone. Get rid of the cigarette lighter! A lot of children die in cars playing with that thing, and setting the upholstery alight. If that's an inconvenience because you smoke in the car, consider stopping for your kid's sake anyway.

As for leaving the kid in the car, here in California people who do that are usually charged - with negligent homicide. A child in a car can die pretty fast - and it's not that different in Scotland especially during the current hot weather. A car is a very effective greenhouse.

[Suth11]

Do you watch your kids every second of everyday?

Do you watch them when they are asleep?

You can't watch them all the time, i don't agree with leaving kids in the car for a long amount of time but a just for a minute is not that bad in my eyes

[cuddlepop]

Its bad eneogh leaving the dog in the car in this weather but kids.Never in a month of Sundays would I do it.

[mccaugm]

To clarify, I personally don't leave my youngest child in the car alone. My elder two children are old enough to be left alone.
I agree with the not smoking in cars with children as that beggars belief.

[unicorn]

I once saw a childminder leave kids in car while she went shopping in the coop I couldnt believe it.

[Bobinovich]

I once saw a childminder leave kids in car while she went shopping in the coop I couldnt believe it.

That's terrible [disgust] ! You should have reported her - off all people she should know better.

[unicorn]

I absolutely hate to see people do this it only takes a minute for an accident to happen. I remember reading about a car going on fire due to an electrical fault and a baby dying inside.It is so stupid.

[Fran]

what if a car or lorry crashed into a car with young children inside unacompanied, even in a shop car park. it is a disgraceful thing to do. Parents are committing a crime doing this, they could be charged with neglect of a child, even abandonment.
Owners can even be charged with cruelty to dogs if a dog is left in a locked car in hot weather.

[sam]

Do you watch your kids every second of everyday?

Do you watch them when they are asleep?

You can't watch them all the time, i don't agree with leaving kids in the car for a long amount of time but a just for a minute is not that bad in my eyes

no i dont watch my kids every second of every day nor do i watch them sleep, tell me someone who does or can???
what a completely stupid statement to make.

but there again nor would i put my kids at risk needlessly
what on earth could possibly be so important that you would have to leave your kids in the car if only for a minute, apart from the fact that it is dangerous it is also a criminal offence.

i wouldnt even leave my kids outside a shop in their prams
i would take them out, sad fact of life but in this day and age how do you know that someone wouldnt snatch them.
same with being in a car it only takes a minute to break a car window and snatch a kid, even in broad daylight it has happened

[Kaishowing]

Saw this thread and it reminded me of a case similar to this not too long ago.
I know that we don't get the same degree (no punn intended) of heat than in the US, but with each year getting warmer, it won't be too far off.


July 9, 2003

Two children died of heat exposure Tuesday when they were left for five hours in a sport utility vehicle outside a day-care center in Lancaster as temperatures reached 100 degrees, authorities said.

The boys, 3 and 5, were the foster children of the day-care center's owner, Leslie Smoot, who at first told police that a miscommunication led to their being left in the Cadillac Escalade.

"She indicated she thought someone else would take them out of the vehicle," said Sheriff's Lt. Al Grotefend. Later, he said, "She indicated that she forgot to take them out of the car." He said that Smoot, 48, was "distraught, hysterical."

Emergency crews were called to A Child's Place at the corner of Fig and J avenues at 2 p.m. When they arrived, the children had been moved to a rear patio area of the center.

The older boy was dead. The younger one died half an hour later at Antelope Valley Medical Center, according to the Sheriff's Department.

Smoot told deputies that she and the boys had arrived at the center she runs with her husband about 9 a.m. She was unsure, she initially said, about whether she had thought her husband or an employee would bring the boys inside, Grotefend said. She returned to the car five hours later and discovered the bodies on the floor, he said. The older boy apparently had unstrapped the younger one from his car seat.

Smoot was taken to the sheriff's Lancaster station Tuesday night. Investigators were continuing to question her because of her conflicting explanations of the incident, Grotefend said. He said it was unclear whether she would face criminal charges, which could range from child endangerment to manslaughter.

Her biological child and another foster child were removed from her custody, Grotefend said.

Employees at the center would not talk about what had happened.

"We're dealing with a terrible tragedy here," said a woman who answered the telephone at the day-care center. "We're not giving stories to anybody."

Michelle Loar, a former neighbor who happened to be visiting a friend several doors away, said, "It's so preventable. It's just crazy to leave your kids in a car in the middle of summer."

Next-door neighbor Eldrin Waid, 67, described the owners of the day-care center as close friends and "real nice people" and said that they "take the kids out of the car every day the very first thing after they arrive."

The SUV was parked in a lot about 40 feet from the center, a converted single-family home of yellow stucco with a bright green door. Several trees rise more than 30 feet in the tidy frontyard, but the shade does not reach the parking lot, which can accommodate about 20 cars.

During the day, about 35 children attend the center, which operates around the clock and is co-owned by Smoot's husband, Larry. It was closed after the deaths.

Naeenah Edwards, 23, of Lancaster said her daughter has attended for three years but "is not going back."

The deaths were the first reported cases of hyperthermia in Southern California this year, according to 4 R Kids Sake, a nonprofit organization in Corona that tracks incidents of hyperthermia and promotes awareness of its risks.

"Summer brings the worst of these cases," said Laura Petersen, the group's co-founder. "The majority of them occur in July and August."

Last July, a 3-year-old Fontana girl was found dead in her father's van after he left her unattended for about four hours in 102-degree heat. The father had unloaded groceries and fallen asleep in the house.

The same week, a Hacienda Heights woman left her 4-month-old son in a car for more than seven hours. He died.

Last June, a 5-month-old San Francisco girl died in a car when her grandfather forgot her.

In 2001, a Simi Valley woman was sentenced to a year in county jail after her sons, a 3-year-old and a 13-month-old, died in a sweltering van in the family's driveway. Marlene Heath, 40, had fallen asleep in the house after drinking wine. Also that year, a 3-year-old died in Rialto after her foster mother left her in the car.

A study conducted by San Francisco State University's department of geosciences found that when cars are in direct sunlight, temperatures inside can increase more than 50 degrees within an hour and reach 140 degrees when the outside temperature is 96.

It is illegal in California to leave a child age 6 or under unattended in a vehicle.

According to the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety and 4 R Kids Sake, at least 30 children died last year from heat stroke when they became trapped or were left in parked cars.