by Allen Teal

Created on: March 31, 2009

Every year new horror stories emerge about children left in the car alone. Sometimes it is an infant, but other times it can be from a toddler to a larger child. The time frame can be from a few minutes to hours to overnight.

It can be negligence on the part of the parent bordering on abuse, to a five minute run in to pay for gasoline, to a parent's act of desperation because he or she has no one to keep the child while the parent works. At the very least, it can be frightening for the child. At the worst, it can be the last day of the child's life.

Car thieves who do not even realize the child is in the car may take the child with the car.
It's hard to believe with all of the cars stolen with children inside that people would still leave them alone in the car. If the child is asleep, the thief may steal the car without knowing there is a child involved. When the thief notices the child, it can become very dangerous for the little one.
Children are kidnapped from vehicles.

A child can be easier to snatch than a car stereo. In some places, there is a ready market for children of all ages. Babies may be sold for black market adoptions. Anxious adoptive parents already are primed to spend large sums of money on the adoption process. They can end up being just as much a victim as the real parents and the child. Older children can be sold off as slaves for any number of unpleasant reasons.
Children have been known to get the car to move when left alone.
Sometimes they are even able to get to the place of putting the car in gear and being hurt and/or hurting others. If a toddler puts a car in gear, it will go unguided until it hits something or someone. Older children may know enough to attempt a joy ride without realizing the consequences.
Heat stroke and freezing are both possibilities for children that are left alone in a car.
On a hot day or a very cold day, the stories are legion of children dying from the exposure. There have even been accounts of two doctors who forgot their child was in the car and left it there for hours while they were at work. When they returned to the car, the ending was tragic.
Fear of being alone can traumatize young ones.
Besides all of this, most children are afraid to be left alone. This creates mental trauma for the child. Car seats and seat belts were never intended to be miniature jails for our children. People cannot leave their vehicle for a short enough time to be safe while they run in to pay a bill or pick up an item or two.
Some children have even been forced to sit alone in a running car waiting for a lock smith.
In another direction, accounts have often been seen where parents or other adults have left their child in a locked running car and realized that they had no way to open the doors. The poor child has had to sit a wait while someone is called who can come and gain access to the car. This even creates a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning for the child.

Additionally, there is the chance of a child swallowing something toxic that was left in the seat of the car. There is also the possibility that he or she will choke or be strangled while the adult is away by some item thought harmless. It's never a good idea to leave your child alone in the car. The world is too dangerous to assume that everything will be alright.

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