Whether it is to run an errand or just to buy a little something from the store, leaving a child locked inside the car should never be an option. But for busy moms who always seem to have their hands full, leaving the child for a few minutes may be a viable option.
Taking the child with you in some places might not be a safe option too. And yet the law says otherwise. No matter how difficult it may be for some women to handle children on one hand and carry everything else on another, leaving a child locked inside the car, without a companion, is a crime.
Can a mother or a father be considered negligent or even a criminal when they only wish to keep their child protected? But what is the risk that comes with leaving the child inside the car?
In some instances, some people choose to leave their child in the car because of its unruly behavior in crowded places such as the mall or the grocery store. These are the people who seem nonchalant about the arrest that is made of them, claiming that they did what they did because it was the only way they could keep their child disciplined.
But what does it mean to leave the child unattended inside a parked vehicle?
- A child may be at risk of suffocation. Some of the windows of the car may be left open, but such openings might not be enough to let air in. The heat inside the car could suffocate the child and cause him to lose consciousness or worse, die.
- A child may also be at risk of dying because of extreme weather conditions. Whether it is extreme heat or extreme cold, no child will ever survive such extreme conditions without the aid of an adult.
- A child fastened in his or her car seat is likely to cry more than one could imagine. The inability to move around or get things around him will make him cry for help. If nobody is there to attend to his needs, the child might just cry himself until he loses consciousness.