In a recent incident at Roselands Shopping Centre in Sydney’s southwest, police were forced to break open the window of a hot car to rescue a three-month-old baby girl. The child was accidentally locked inside the car by her mother, who had left her keys inside. A harrowing image of a police officer tenderly cradling the baby girl has emerged from the incident. Fortunately, the child was unharmed.
This incident comes just a day after a similar incident at Dee Why shopping centre in the city’s northern beaches. In that incident, two children were rescued after being found alone and strapped into the back of a locked car. Alarmed shoppers had called emergency services, and police officers used a hammer and baton to smash open the front passenger side window of the car. Both children were removed from the car unharmed, with new images showing a female police officer cradling the youngest child.
The driver of the vehicle in the Dee Why incident, a young woman who had rushed back to the car with her groceries to find it surrounded by police and onlookers, could still face charges that carry a potential jail sentence. NSW police confirmed that officers have ‘not yet’ charged the woman, but she could be liable under the Children and Young Persons Care and Protection Act. If charged and convicted of failing to care for a child, she could face a maximum $22,000 fine or six months in prison.
It is important to note that leaving any child or young person in a motor vehicle without proper supervision for such a period that the child becomes emotionally distressed or physically impaired is a criminal offense under NSW Law. In recent weeks, a toddler died in a sweltering car in Glenfield in south-west Sydney, highlighting the dangers of leaving children unattended in hot cars.
The consequences of leaving children in hot cars can be severe, with children’s bodies heating up three-to-five times faster than adults. On a 29C day, temperatures inside a car can reach 44C in just ten minutes, causing ‘serious injury’ and brain damage. After 20 minutes, the temperature reaches a fatal 60.2C, which could kill. Winding down the windows or parking in the shade will do little as it doesn’t affect the car’s core temperature. It is essential to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of children in hot weather, such as not leaving them unattended in cars.
»Police rescue three-month-old baby girl in hot car«
↯↯↯Read More On The Topic On TDPel Media ↯↯↯