A few spots down?
I probably wouldn't. If a cop saw you, you might get in trouble. Or worse. If a kidnapper saw you, or even a carjacker...You may never see your child alive again. |
I personally wouldn't do it. I go to a drive through even if I have to pay the fee because its not my bank. But I would say ABSOLUTELY NO in this weather. If it was cooler then I don't see the problem if it is truly 2-3 spots away and your DC doesn't notice (is asleep or doesn't get upset). |
The point is someone saw her doing it, videotaped it and gave the tape to the cops. It didn't matter if the car was or was not within her sight. |
Sure it does. |
Hell no.
Take the extra 30 seconds and lug the damn thing out of the car. |
oh that's good info to have. I suppose an affirmative defense is that the vehicle is "in sight" What's legal, and what's advisable, can be different and is a personal judgment call at some point. And we know that becoming a parent doesn't necessarily equate to a rise in good judgment. |
The responses indicate that people are more concerned of being caught than the actual risk. My biggest concern would be that being lax about this would mean I would become more lax about bigger issues. |
Getting caught aside (and I'm not sure it would be worth it to me to deal with the hassle and uncertainty involved with getting caught) my biggest fear would be that I would accidentally lock myself out of the car. |
I think American fixation on lugging the baby everywhere is weird, but we live where we live and not in Scandinavia, where apparently it's common and accepted to leave the baby outside while going into a store. So don't do it, OP, because regardless of the merits of your action, you can get in a bunch of legal trouble. |
Do you take your infant out of the car when pumping gas? How is this different? Equal chance of locking yourself out or something else bad happening. (The only difference I can think of is that gas pumps are in the shade, so overheating is much less likely, but the risk everyone seems to be talking about here is the leaving alone and not overheating in the car.) |
Seriously? What about buying gas? What if you have twins and have to load/unload them at your home one at a time? What about returning a grocery cart? Personally, I wouldn't do it at an ATM unless I could park directly in front of the ATM. Not because I have any concern about baby's safety in the car but because I do have serious concerns about getting in trouble from so-called good samaritans who think this way (see Salon article -- the person videotaping knew the child was fine...he spoke with the mother in the store. He wasn't concerned about making sure the baby was safe, he was concerned about making sure the mom was punished for not parenting the way he though she should be.) |
You could... Course could backfire and end with an Amber Alert and you crying for the return of your child - but sure go ahead. |
What could happen? Just about anything. Mom could accidentally leave the keys inside. Mom could accidentally drop the keys downa grate. There could be a line at the ATM an mom has to wait for 1 or 2 folks to finish first. Mom could see a friend on the street and the 2 min trip is now a 5-7 min trip. Why take the chance? Think of this way, would you ever want to have to finish this sentence "If only, I didn't leave DC alone in the car then..." |
Buying gas your car is turned off and, presumably, your keys are with you, not stuck in the ignition while you're potentially on the other side of the car. |
the risk is not in the child overheating in 5 minutes but in some asshole calling the cops on you. |