Mother leaves sleeping baby in car while she shops for an hour
A recent photo of a baby who was allegedly left alone in a car while her mother went shopping has left Facebook and Twitter users fuming.
According to IOL the incident took place on Wednesday (27 July 2016) evening at a shopping mall in Eerste River when a mother asked an informal car guard to keep an eye on her sleeping baby.
She entered the shopping mall with her other child, a toddler, and returned an hour later to find an angry shopper and police officials trying to calm down her crying baby from next to the car.
The car guard stated that the mother was outraged that the police were there and that she’d said she didn’t see anything wrong with what she did.
So far no charges have been laid.
Post via Eerste river/Bluedowns/Kleinvlei/Wesbank What should you do if you spot a child alone in a car?
Unfortunately there aren’t any laws specific to children being left unattended in cars, and as was the case with the above mentioned incident, police won’t do much unless they feel the child is in real danger. Yet most of us know the risks involved when leaving a child alone in a car:
- the possibility of heat exhaustion
- the possibility of the car being stolen with the child/children in it
- children can get bored and start fiddling with buttons and handbrakes etc, leading to potential danger
- children can start panicking if they feel restrained by a seatbelt and unable to get out of the car, leading to injury
The good news is that situations like these constitute as child negligence according to the Child Protection Act. By getting hold of social workers parents can be investigated and possible charges could be laid against them if they are considered unfit to parent.
Who to contact:
Child Welfare SA: 011 452 4110
Nationwide Emergency Response: 10111
South African Police Service (Head Office): +27 (0) 12 393 1000
Emergency ambulance: 10177