PHOTO: The attached photo (edited) submitted to TLS shows two children left in a vehicle in a local shopping plaza this morning.
The woman who took the photo tells TLS she snapped the picture while the parent had run into the plaza for an errand. The woman says she belives the vehicle was left running.
Have her arrested. Then they will learn.
This picture looks like it may have been take in front of the cleaners in Shopper’s Plaza on James (& Sunset). This happens VERY OFTEN there. Parents: appreciate the gifts Hashem has given you. They are more important than the shirts getting to the cleaners !
maybe being more detail specific would embarrass some people and get this stopped?
I agree lets post pictures of car owner and just embarrass them into doing the right thing
Stop jumping to conclusions. The mother could be 4 feet away and watching the car. No different from walking away from your cart in a grocery store
why didnt you call the police??
Just was a story in Israel that the baby climbed into the front seat and put the car into drive. Car rolled down a hill with the children inside! Parent was 4 feet away but couldn’t stop the car!
why would someone take a pic to post online rather than calling the cops or at least chaverim?
If all of you turn off the engine every time you go around the car to strap in a child and you shut the engine every time you get something from your trunk, then your comments make some sense.
To all of you who don’t do that: Your comments are so silly.
The ONLY reason you don’t go into the store when your kids are inside is because you might get arrested!
Regarding the story in Israel, that is a freak incident. Cars are equipped to stay in “park” unless that foot is on the break when you’re trying to shift gears.
But regarding normal safety precautions, there’s no difference between going into a store at James Street Plaza or any similar plaza or getting an item from your trunk. It’s perfectly safe, your 5 feet away and if the weather is good and the car is locked, what’s there to be afraid of more that when you’re strapping in your child while the engine is running?
Again, I don’t advise you doing this because you’ll have some vigilante that will snap pictures, send it to TLS and a bunch of not thinking people will try to get you arrested. Not worth it!
But if you did it already, and B”H nobody saw, don’t feel guilty. You did nothing wrong. Your protecting Hashem’s gifts to you just as well as the people that posted comments above.
like #8 said:y wld s/o jst take a picture??y didnt she wait 2 confrnt the parent!!?
Maybe for the same reason you couldn’t take the time to form a normal sentence.
The problum is you get cought up with wat ur doing, and g-d forbid forget them.
sg are you crazy ???? where are you getting your facts from because I can show you pages and pages of facts that show hundred’s of children die each year from being left in a car . both running and not. things happen cars catch fire , cars release carbon monoxide , cars get robbed and stolen. kids get stolen , how can you cay that it is safe ??? it is as bad as driving around with no seatbelts !! or allowing them to play with a gun !! why would you take any risk with your children life ??
How stupid, and I mean STUPID. This is not an isolated incident! It goes on all the time. I suppose it’s going to take a tragedy to stop this from happening. And…it’s about time for the TLS to print comments like this, maybe it will wake up some brain cells.
No 9 well said. Totally agree. People need to calm down. Look at this way if you had a million dollars cash in the car what would you do? I think most people would feel safe about leaving it in the car while jumping into the cleaners and watching from 4 feet away.
If you feel comfortable leaving your child in a car unattended then I think maybe you need some parental classes. Never leave a child unattended no matter how far away you are. Same goes for leaving a child in a shopping cart while you walk away, saw a child fall out of a cart in a store with the parents a few feet away. Sometimes I wonder what people are thinking.
Dont take a picture- CALL THE POLICE!! People will not learn unless a tragedy occurs or if they get in trouble!!
to all the people who say its no big deal to leave kids in car alone. maybe you should have your kids taken away since you don’t seem fit to be a parent. your children depend on you to keep them safe and leaving them in a car alone is not safe at all.
confronting a parent who leaves their kid in the car is worth less since that don’t care enough about the kids. they are not going to care what you say.
I hope the husband of this woman sees this pic and recognizes his kids.
Hopefully that will lead to a discussion that will improve things.
S.G. I agree with you 100%. Nothing wrong with leaving kids in a car when you’re watching the car. And to those saying baby might climb out and put car in park, well maybe don’t take kids in a car in the first place! There are higher odds of an accident while driving, than a kid putting the car into driver or a kidnapping. Maybe leave your kids at home with husband/ babysitter and shop without kids in the car. More kids die in car accidents each year then from being left in cars. I leave my kids in the car all the time with motor running and doors locked where I can see the car at all times. Yes, there’s a 1 in 100 million chance of a kidnapping but there’s a much bigger chance of a car accident while driving with kids. To the people who say don’t be lazy, and schlep your 5 kids out to the cleaners to make a 1 minute errand take 10 minutes, well maybe don’t risk bringing your kids in the car to go shopping and hire a babysitter or go when your husband is home! Sometimes it’s not possible to bring your kids out to every errand when you’re really pressed for time, and there’s nothing wrong with leaving them in a car when done responsibly!
What this line of comments shows is that many parents shouldn’t be.
It is against the law to leave your children unattended in a motor vehicle. If you leave your vehicle it is unattended. It is also against the law to leave an unattended vehicle idling.
As an long time emergency responder who has seen what happens to pets and humans left alone in a car I will tell you if I see this, if it’s hot out, the driver will lose a window, he will wait with me for an officer, and he will be arrested as I will press charges.
Bust a window away from the kids & pull them out
#20 where do you shop? It would be nice to give the cops a heads up as to where a crime is being committed (endangering the life of a child)
to everyone who thinks that it will take a tragedy to learn.
SORRY YOUR WRONG.
thousands of tragedies have occured in klal yisroel from terrorists, to kids & teenagers being niftar in strange ways to 9/11 etc…, with hundreds of more tragedies-just this year alone-look in the newspapers or speak to your friends.
have we woken up & learnt our lesson from Hashem to start doing teshuva? doesnt look like it to me, & this is why things are going from tragic to horrific R”L (THE situation is so bad already that even if we heard our own neighbor/friend got hurt C”V we still wont wake up & do teshuva)
may we all wake up & do teshuva right away-before destruction comes upon the world like in the days of noach C”V
Agree, think of all the accidents and kidnapping possibilities possible while taking children out of a secure locked vehicle and into a store.
They are much safer in a climate controlled locked car, especially if its not a hot day.
If you’re right near the car and have your eye on it, I don’t see anything wrong with leave a child in it for just a few minutes. However, I wouldn’t do it because everyone will vilify and condemn me for it. I wouldn’t call the police because of the aveira of mesira. If I thought the child was in danger, I would stay near the car and keep an eye on it until the mother came back.
if they dont care about there own kids why should we.
Steve, how is that child endangerment? If I am standing at the counter in the store with my eye on the car, AC on, with doors locked. What’s the danger?? Please explain.
Just because we are seeing this happening here in Lakewood does not mean the people doing it are even from here. I was involved in an incident last summer where 4 children under the age of 7 were left alone in a minivan…I was parked next to them and heard the screaming…I waited with them until their mother came out from grocery shopping…a full half hour later…just to find that she barely spoke English enough for me to tell her that your kids get taken away from you if you leave them alone like that in this country. The educational campaign that was instituted has been raising awareness, but I think more drastic measures need to be taken before this practice becomes a thing of the past.
Boy oh boy, some really stupid people responding on this one. There is NO way you should leave children in a car alone, PERIOD.
Why is everyone claiming this is UNATTENDED?? If your 4 feet away with your eye on the car whats the big deal? The baby was in a carseat, no danger of him putting the car in drive. Dont tell me that you wont leave your kids in a running car and shmooze with a friend outside….
Now leaving your kids in a car in shoprite plaza or walmart parking lot is very different as you can’t have your eye on the car……
Plain and simple , any parent who would leave a child unattended in a running car is an idiot!
The law permits a parent to leave children in the car in ones driveway of their home. It does not state at all specifically regarding the time of day, temperature, age of children or distance of the parent. As long as the children are being properly supervised, and are kept safe, it is fine. Windows should be left open for cross ventilation or a/c should be kept on. Most automatic starters these days come with a feature that would leave the car running and allow for the keys to be removed if the remote button is clicked twice.
The main thing is to use your own intuitive perception as to how to handle each time you leave your precious gems in the car. Safety is first and it’s definitely possible to leave children in a car safely for a very short period of time. Another thing you may want to consider is the possibility of the child(ren) becoming frightened if mommy walks away. Again, each child and incident is different, parents need to perform their chores, as well as their parental duties. Supervision and intuition are key.
Doesn’t it feel good to point out how incompetent other parents are? It keeps us from thinking too much about how we are imperfect, human parents, and where we can improve.
I WAS RIGHT THERE LOOKING AT THE CAR AND NO THE MOTOR WAS NOT ON
Thank You S.G. for speaking out what most normal thinking adults feel about all this nonsense and false hysteria. To many ppl have been dumbed-down by the regulations and take these laws like Torah MSinia lhavdil.
Don’t do it, cause you may get caught by one of these ppl who post above, but if you did and got away with it, you can sleep well tonight. You are a fine parent.
#33 it is not lega! PERIOD
If a parent was that close in sight then they would seen someone taking a picture of their children.
“S.G. says”
I am really hurt by your comment if this is what you meant.
YES YOU CAN leave your kids in the car but only if you are four feet away, or if you are just going to do an errand… don’t worry your kids will be fine even in the regular whether which is hot…
it’s fine if your kids are left there since it is good for them to be left there and heat up and …..
IF THIS IS WHAT YOU MEANT.
I’m hurt.
Do you know how many kids die from PARENTS leaving children in a car????
If you search ywn for “BABY LEFT IN CAR (CHAS VESHALOM AND DIE)
See how many results you have??
HOW SAD????
WAKE UP.
AMERICANS ARE REALLY MINDLESS.
THERE IS A CRASH EVERY DAY.
THERE IS KIDS LEFT IN THE CAR DAILY.
# 36 and # 9 you are simply stupid pity on uyour children who have such stupid parents may god give all parents the brains to watch there kids safely amen
YOU who took that picture – Do you ever drive over the speed limit? Do you ever drive and make a phone call? text? or just get a little distracted with something? My guess is, you’ve probably done 1 of those things above, perhaps just a little. And if you are a saint, well 99% of people have done and do the above. Do they hate their kids? Are they criminals? People are people and they live and do their best to watch their kids. Personally, i think each person has to know his or her owns kids. if they are strapped in, will they jump out of their seat and start driving your car? You should train your kids NEVER to take off their seat belts by themselves. You should know your own kids if they are the type to unbuckle themselves then of course never leave them. But if you know your kids, your right in front of the car picking up the cleaners and you can see your kids then i don’t see why you make this person into a child abuser. speeding, texting, talking on cell phone while driving has cause 1000X more accidents. so lay off of this innocent person and you shlep your 2 kids into the cleaners every time you pick something up. Just be Normal. Point is, YOU who posted this picture, you probably have done much more dangerous things to your own kids then this parent who probably knows his or her own kids that they won’t unstrap themselves and he or she was right there watching the car every other minute.
All commentors:
Please keep all your comments to yourselves, as nobody asked you for your opinions…
Thanks,
A concerned reader
Read through the comments. Most who condemns the parent use comments like “you are crazy,” you are a terrible parent,” you are stupid,” without really saying or understanding what the danger is. Those who defend the parent are giving rational, well-thought responses.
Sorry – Most who CONDEMN …
If the car engine was on maybe the Air conditioner was too!