Bill would make it illegal to leave kids in cars

Monday, April 11, 2005 | 11:01 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- After hearing testimony about 16 youngsters who had died since 1996 as a result of being left alone in vehicles in the Las Vegas Valley, a Senate committee today approved a bill to make it illegal to leave a child unattended in a vehicle

Sen. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, said if passed, the proposed law would give authorities a way to provide a "wake-up call to get the conduct early on."

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed and sent to the floor Senate Bill 287, which would make it a misdemeanor to leave a child who is 7 or younger unattended unless the youngster is being supervised in the car by a person who is at least 12 years old.

Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, asked how Wiener arrived at the age of 12 as the age of supervision. Wiener said a 12-year-old is presumed to know right from wrong and that's when young people start babysitting.

Wiener also noted that the bill also would allow a person cited for such a misdemeanor to complete an educational program on the dangers of leaving the child unattended and thereby could have the misdemeanor cleared.

The committee heard testimony from William Olsen, whose 3-year-old son Christian died of heat stroke last July when left alone in a minivan in Henderson.

Olsen said he did not want other families to face the same devastation that his had.

He told the committee that his wife was "over-protective" in making sure their children were not left alone. But in this case, his wife, Diana, forgot Christian was in the car. When his wife realized the child was in the vehicle, she got him out. Christian was still alive but died later.

"I'm in favor of any deterrent," he said. But he added the bill must make sure that "intent" is included in any criminal charge.

Olsen's wife was never charged with a crime in connection with their son's death, but "she beats herself up every day," he said.

Robert Eglet, a Las Vegas lawyer who is president-elect of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association, told the committee there were 500 calls last year in the valley reporting children left alone in their vehicles and there were 600 such calls in 2003.

There have been more than 5,000 deaths or injuries since 1999 nationwide of children who have been killed or injured when left alone, authorities said. They not only die from heat stroke, but can be kidnapped or, in older cars, get trapped in the trunks.

"Parents don't understand how dangerous it is to leave a child unattended in the car," Eglet said. "This (Wiener's bill) is a way to educate the public.

Assemblyman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, who is a co-sponsor with Titus of Senate Bill 287, told the committee that a child should be removed, even if the car is in the driveway of the home.

He said a person can run into the house for only a minute but the telephone may ring with an important call. And a person can become distracted with the child still in the car.