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 Kids in Cars

 

Remember

When the outside temperature is 93 F, even with a window cracked, the temperature inside a car can reach 125 F in just 20 minutes and approximately 140 F in 40 minutes.

Hot summer sun and children left in or playing around cars can be a deadly mix. Outside heat can quickly raise temperatures inside a car to potentially lethal levels. Children should never be left alone inside of your car, even for a few minutes. From 1996 through 2000, more than 120 children – most of them ages 3 and younger – died from heat stroke after being trapped in a car. In summer 1999, an average of one child every four days died after being trapped in a car parked in the searing heat. The Stephenville Police Department is issuing an urgent warning to parents and caregivers to take extra precautions when traveling with children. Never leave a child inside a car during the summer heat, even for a few minutes.   Cracking the window to let air in does nothing to protect kids from hyperthermia. Inside car temperatures rise quickly, and it's critical that parents never leave kids in cars, even for a moment.

Many parents mistakenly think they can leave a child in a vehicle while running a “quick” errand.  Unfortunately a delay of just a few minutes can lead to tragedy. Heat is much more dangerous to children than it is to adults. When left in a hot vehicle, a young child’s core body temperature can increase three to five times faster than that of an adult causing permanent injury or death. 

This is not only a good idea but its the law.

Leaving Child in Vehicle Injury to a Child Abandoing or Endangering a Child

   

The Stephenville Police Department offers parents and caregivers the following safety precautions to combat heat-related injuries in cars:

 

Safety in Your Driveway

While parked in a driveway, your car can be especially hazardous. Unlocked cars pose serious risks to children who are naturally curious and often lack fear. Once they crawl in, children don’t have the developmental capability to get out. More than a third of deaths reported last year occurred when children crawled into unlocked cars while playing, they became trapped and perished in the sweltering heat. In very hot weather, heat stroke may result and could lead to permanent disability or even death in a matter of minutes.

The Stephenvillie Police Department warns parents to be especially consious about their children’s safety on days when temperatures are 80 degrees or higher by offering the following safety precautions to combat heat-related injuries in cars.

 


22.10

Leaving a child in a vehicle.

(a)

A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly leaves a child in a motor vehicle for longer than five minutes, knowing that the child is:

(1)

younger than seven years of age; and

(2)

not attended by an individual in the vehicle who is 14 years of age or older.

(b)

An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

 

22.04

Injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual.

(a)

A person commits an offense if he intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence, by act or intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly by omission, causes to a child, elderly  individual, or disabled individual:

(1)

serious bodily injury;

(2)

serious mental deficiency, impairment, or injury; or

(3)

bodily injury.

(b)

An omission that causes a condition described by Subsections (a)(1) through (a)(3) is conduct constituting an offense under this section if:

(1) 

the actor has a legal or statutory duty to act; or

(2)

the actor has assumed care, custody, or control of a child, elderly
individual, or disabled individual.

(c) 

In this section:

(1)

"Child" means a person 14 years of age or younger.

(d)

The actor has assumed care, custody, or control if he has by act, words, or course of conduct acted so as to cause a reasonable person to conclude that he has accepted responsibility for protection, food, shelter, and medical care for a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual.

(e)

An offense under Subsection (a)(1) or (2) is a felony of the first degree when the conduct is committed intentionally or knowingly. When the conduct is engaged in recklessly it shall be a felony of the second degree.

(f)

An offense under Subsection (a)(3) is a felony of the third degree when the conduct is committed intentionally or knowingly. When the conduct is engaged in recklessly it shall be a state jail felony.

(g)

An offense under Subsection (a) when the person acts with criminal negligence shall be a state jail felony.

         

22.041

Abandoning or endangering child.

(a)

In this section, "abandon" means to leave a child in any place without providing reasonable and necessary care for the child, under circumstances under which no reasonable, similarly situated adult would leave a child of that age and ability.

(b) 

A person commits an offense if, having custody, care, or control of a child younger than 15 years, he intentionally abandons the child in any place under circumstances that expose the child to an unreasonable risk of harm.

(c)

A person commits an offense if he intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence, by act or omission, engages in conduct that places a child younger than 15 years in imminent danger of death, bodily injury, or physical or mental
impairment.

(d)

Except as provided by Subsection (e), an offense under
Subsection (b) is:

(1)

a state jail felony if the actor abandoned the child with intent to return for the child; or

(2)

a felony of the third degree if the actor abandoned the child without intent to return for the child.

(e) 

An offense under Subsection (b) is a felony of the second degree if the actor abandons the child under circumstances that a reasonable person would believe would place the child in imminent danger of death, bodily injury, or physical or mental
impairment.

(f)

An offense under Subsection (c) is a state jail felony.

(h)

It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under Subsection (b) that the actor voluntarily delivered the child to an emergency medical services provider under Section 262.301, Family Code.

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 © 2001 S. King