Editorial: Bill raises awareness of kids in cars

Wednesday, April 13, 2005 | 9:15 a.m.

Parents who intentionally leave their small children alone in cars while they engage in other activities, such as gambling, shopping, paying for gas and getting a cup of coffee, can be prosecuted under existing laws on child endangerment or child neglect. If a child is harmed while intentionally left alone, a parent could be found guilty of a Class A felony and face a sentence of life imprisonment.

But what about parents who unintentionally leave their children alone in a car? Over the past several years in Southern Nevada, there have been several cases of parents not being charged, even after leaving their child in a hot car and returning to find the child dead. The parents in these cases told police they had tragically forgotten that their children were in the car. Such cases are always investigated, but if no reason is found to doubt the parents, there is no law that applies in such circumstances and parents cannot be charged.

Senate Bill 287, sponsored by Sen. Valerie Wiener and Assemblyman William Horne, both D-Las Vegas, would make it a misdemeanor crime to even unintentionally leave children 7 or younger alone in a car. The bill says children that young must be supervised at all times while they are in a car by someone who is at least 12. We support this bill. Each year police in the Las Vegas Valley respond to hundreds of instances of small children being left along in cars. And each summer one or two or more of those small children die because of the extreme heat buildup with the car. There are also instances of children being driven away by car thieves or otherwise endangered when left unattended.

The Senate Judiciary Committee this week passed the bill to the full Senate. The committee heard testimony from a Southern Nevada man whose 3-year-old son died of heat stroke last summer while he was alone in a minivan. The child was left alone, unintentionally, by the man's wife. He testified that no one should face a criminal charge unless there was intent to leave a child alone. But we disagree. One purpose of this bill is to hold parents accountable even when no intent is present. Under this bill, any adult who leaves a child alone in a car would face six months in jail or a $1,000 fine. The bill also says a judge "may" suspend those penalties if the adult(s) responsible attend a court-approved program educating them about the dangers of children being left alone in cars. Our only objection to this bill is the word "may." First-time offenders, by law, should have the right to choose attending the court-approved program. We believe education, not punishment, should be the b! ill's priority.