Reasons why Children should never be Left alone in Cars
The baby is sound asleep and you’re only going to take one minute – really just one minute – to run into the store and buy some bread. Do you really want to wake her up and carry her crying into the store? And then something happens in the store – perhaps you run into a neighbor and the one minute turns into 15. That’s all it takes for a child to succumb to heat inside a car.
Tragically, many – far too many – children die each year because they’re left alone in cars. The temperature inside a closed car can quickly rise to 130 degrees and the helpless child has no way out. Even cracking the windows isn’t enough to keep them safe. About 30 children a year die from heatstroke after being left in a car unattended. By the way, the same horror story happens to pets left alone in cars. Heat isn’t the only danger to a child in a car. Cold can also be lethal. Besides the weather, there are many more hazards.
Children can be stolen from parked cars. Why would you even consider leaving your child? All you need to do is watch the news to know that there are people out there who snatch children. If they’re bold enough to risk being caught taking a baby from a hospital nursery, they’re certainly bold enough to take a child from a car seat in an unattended car.
Children old enough to unbuckle themselves may do just that and figure out a way to get out of the car. Then you have a small child running loose through a parking lot or down a street. Children are curious and they mimic their parents. How easy is it to scramble into the front seat and jiggle the shift or release the hand brake so that the car starts to roll? And if you’ve really been stupid and left the keys in the car, then you may have a two year old driver at the wheel.
Cars are not a play thing and your children should never use them as such. At home, leave your car locked. Curious children may want to climb in a car in the driveway and play Mommie or Daddy. Sorry, kids, the only car playing should be pretend in the house or back yard with pretend cars. While you’re taking precautions that your children can’t access a parked car at home, it’s time to start educating them about car safety. From day one, children should learn about buckling up and about not touching the car controls.
There’s another category of children being alone in cars that needs to be addressed – that’s when the parent is physically present in the car but distracted by or absorbed in something else. The parent speeding down a highway, talking on a cell phone, may not even notice that the child has escaped a car seat and is now crawling around on the seat. Or the parent may not notice that the child is choking. While it’s important to keep your eyes on the road, it’s also important to glance in the rearview mirror often enough to assure yourself that your child is okay. There are special mirrors that can be attached to rear-facing car seats that allow you to see your child’s face.
A child is part of your heart. When you know that, the decision to never leave a child alone is simple. Your child belongs where your heart is and that’s with you. Don’t let an impulse to run a quick errand take away your most precious possession.
