Consider safety of children
Seeing too many young children being left alone in cars has sparked one Grandmother to speak up.
Margaret Ellis has noticed this problem for a while but it was the last three incidents that led her to make some noise.
Sparing five minutes to shoot into Briscoes, Ellis noticed in the car next to her, a toddler sitting alone watching a Dora the Explorer DVD. Upon coming out of the store, Ellis noticed the child still alone in the car. Coming up to 25 minutes, Ellis started thinking about what to do.
‘‘It wasn’t warm but it was sunny and there were no windows down,’’ Ellis said.
At the half hour mark, someone finally came back to the car.
‘‘I asked her if she thought it was right to leave a baby that age in the car for half an hour,’’ Ellis said.
The reply: an abusive remark and a speedy take-off.
This incident was just the tip of the iceberg as Ellis noticed two other incidents in the following weeks.
‘‘The point is, it doesn’t matter if it’s five minutes or half an hour. The hazards are huge,’’ she said.
Ellis added she appreciates it’s difficult to get babies in an out of cars but will continue speaking up, despite being verbally abused, if anymore young ones are left for long periods of time.
‘‘I’d just hate to walk past a car and see a child in distress.’’
Taupo Parents Centre spokesperson, Leah White, said there are many reasons as to why children are left alone in cars.
‘‘Post-natal depression is the main reason,’’ she said. ‘‘But also just genuinely forgetting they are in the car.’’
White said not to judge if someone is seen leaving a child in the car.
‘‘Ask them if they are O.K,’’ she said. ’’Don’t judge straight away, offer help.’’
With summer just around the corner, the risks of leaving children in cars becomes huge.
‘‘It’s amazing how quickly cars can heat up,’’ White said.
It is illegal to leave a child under the age of 14 alone in a vehicle and people who do so could face a $2000 fine.
‘‘Police would take into account things such as the ages of the children, the length of time they were going to be left, the availability of others to provide help, and any known dangers at the locality,’’ a police spokesperson said.