Parents Debate Leaving Kids Alone In Cars After Facebook Scare

For parents in Michigan who leave their children in their car unattended while they run inside the store real quick, how long is it until it’s considered illegal?

This is a question that has been up for debate recently on a Facebook group based in Traverse City.

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Apparently, the conversation started with a post about how a parent left a nine-year-old child in a car unattended for 20 minutes, and the child ended up missing.

Somebody would go on to say that the story was not found to be true, but it still did bring up the topic of the legality of leaving your child alone in a car. Many people in the comment section were sounding off with their feelings:

One guy said this entire post was proven false and removed. That said, the subject matter is still quite irrelevant in today’s world. The law may say it’s legal, or rather not illegal, but any good parent would not take the chance.

Some people are more comfortable doing this...

A nine-year-old is capable of locking and unlocking a car door. I would be nervous myself to leave a child in the car under 13 but it’s not that serious.

Regardless, the Michigan penal code act 328 of 1931, section 135a states that:

A person who is responsible for the care or welfare of a child shall not leave that child unattended in a vehicle for a period of time that poses an unreasonable risk of harm or injury to the child or under circumstances that pose an unreasonable risk of harm or injury to the child.

 

It goes on to talk about the fines and charges that you could face if something does happen to the child, and although they don’t specify a time length, they do define child as anybody less than six years of age, and continue to say that unattended means a loaner without the supervision of an individual 13 years of age older.
So when you look at the length of time itself, it doesn’t really seem to matter as terrible things can happen between one minute and 10 minutes. Do you ever leave your children unattended in the car, or do you just not take that chance?