Mom Leaves Toddler In A Running Car While Shopping

It is hard to know what to make of a Pennsylvania mother who decided that leaving a toddler in a running car while she shopped at Wal-Mart was okay. Have we become a society where our own personal time is so precious we cannot stop to think about the safety of a small child? Or is it simply that we no longer have a way to help young mothers develop the safety precautions that would protect a small child in a running car from danger? From the news report on this particular incident, the police were neither surprised to see this nor did they find it unusual. That alone is pretty disturbing.

Denies Leaving Toddler in a Running Car Alone

The whole incident began when a woman in the parking lot of the Pennsylvania Wal-Mart noticed someone walking into the store with her car running. Then she noticed the child sitting alone in the back seat, with the car unlocked. She called police, who ran ID for the car’s plates and had the store ask the owner to come forward. Police said that by the time they had arrived at the store, Wal-Mart security guards were at the car. When first accused the mother claimed that when she left she had someone in the car with her child.

Denial Falls Apart

Unfortunately, that claim was proved to be false. Wal-Mart has excellent security video that shows only the mother and the child was in the car when she pulled into the parking lot space. When shown this, she changed her story to a friend sitting not in her car but in another car nearby. Strangely, this other person never emerged when people began to gather by the car. So that excuse was determined to be false as well.

Toddlers Alone in Cars Not Uncommon

Sadly the police that are in charge of this case have told reporters that they get several cases a year of a parent leaving a child alone in a car while they run into a shop to buy something. It is a sad state of affairs when we can accept the idea that your time is more important than the safety of your child. Yes, it is true that you can’t get through the day without someone complaining there aren’t enough hours in a day to get everything done. We have become a nation of clock watchers, striving to fit one more thing into our crowded schedule. But does this have to be at the expense of our own children’s safety?