I’m a strong advocate for child safety, and have a dim view of parents who leave unattended children in a car even for a short period of time. Having said that, if the womans claim of being only a short distance away with the car always in her view is true, then she did not leave her child unattended IMHO. If this case goes to trial, she should demand a jury trial.
I agree. It appears that the child was supervised continuosly while mom was away from the car.
I agree. It appears that the child was supervised continuosly while mom was away from the car.
Why? Except when weather is extreme (and if the keys are not in the car, so the kids can't start it up and go anywhere) what exactly is the big threat that is different than kids unattended anywhere, like a park for instance. And doesn't the place the car is parked determine completely whether there is any appreciable risk to the child at all?
I've done a similar thing many many times. We live in a rural area with a TINY post office, so small that my p.o. box only has two digits, and no one has more than a 3 digit number. If I'm at the post office and have one of my grandchildren with me and that child is strapped in a car seat, allowing for temperatures of course, I will get out, lock the car, run to my box, grab my mail, all the while looking at my car, and be back in said car within 60 seconds.
Infant car seats do save lives, and I always use one, but I think the difficulty of strapping/unstrapping for less than a minute of getting out tends to make one decide to do this.
What about the parents who let their children run wild in a store while they are 3 aisles away - will they be arrested also?