kids in the car

[webhill]

Hi. I was wondering if someone could clear up some confusion I have regarding if or when it is ever legal to leave a child unattended in a car here in the great state of Pennsylvania. My friend told me she called the police recently to find out from them at what age it is legal to leave a child at home alone (apparently the answer is "when he or she is of 'school age,'" which I think is scary, because the officer who spoke to my friend said even a 5 year old qualifies!) and that the police also volunteered to her the information that no unlicensed driver under the age of 18 may ever be left alone in the vehicle. Is that really true? I have attempted to find this out by calling the DMV (which was no help) and looking online, but I just haven't found anything covering this. I can't imagine not being able to have a teenager wait in the car with the valuables while I run into the dry cleaner, or whatever. Any information on this anyone has is appreciated.

Oh, and by the way - no, my friends and I are not leaving 5 year olds home alone, and the police didn't *recommend* it in any case. They just said it would be legal. My friend had been asking because her 6 year old was refusing to get in the car and she had to go pick up her 3 year old from school, literally about half a mile away. She ended up telling the next door neighbor the kid was home alone, and that if she didn't get a phone call from her in five minutes that she was back, to please go over and make sure things were ok. Luckily it went fine.

[webhill]

Hey, I'm not living in her house, and it's not like I have any control over what she does. I didn't really want to start a debate about her parenting choices, which are rarely in line with mine anyway. Could you comment on my question regarding the legality of unlicensed people under 18 being left in the car unattended?

[JBU2010]

DC LAW

LMAO! Nicely put.

[webhill]

Nicely put? But it in no way addressed my question, instead focusing on a situation which really has nothing to do with me or the topic at hand.

I guess I'm in the wrong forum. I thought this was where the public at large could ask questions of police officers and get back some kind of useful information. If anyone here knows of such a place, I'd appreciate a pointer. Thanks. I'm not really interested in the "bash all newbies" community.

[Drew27k9]

Here is Pennsylvania law for leaving kids in a car. (From Pa. Vehicle Code)

3701.1. Leaving an unattended child in a motor vehicle.
(a) General rule.--A person driving or in charge of a motor vehicle may not permit a child under six years of age to remain unattended in the vehicle when the motor vehicle is out of the person's sight and under circumstances which endanger the health, safety or welfare of the child.

(a.1) Applicability.--This section shall apply to the highways and trafficways of this Commonwealth and, for the purposes of this section only, the term "trafficways" shall include, but not be limited to, parking lots.

(b) Penalty.--A person who violates this section commits a summary offense.

[webhill]

Drew,

Thanks very much for the answer! Clearly I just didn't know the right place to look, I thought I had checked most of the vehicle code. Oops. So, my friend either misheard, misinterpreted, or made up the bit about having to be 18 years old to be left alone in the car. I can't tell you how happy that makes me

[mcsap]

Drew27K9 is right on the money.

How PA ever came up with the logic that it is OK to leave a 6 yr old unattended in a car is BEYOND me. I hope NO parent ever does this.

I don't know whay they talk about traficways as though they are something special. The legal definition ALREADY included parking lots.

[Coastie 585]

Webhill, don't let them get to you. They might be good cops, but are not very informative on this site. :D lol

[md123]

As Deputy Raineesha Williams says: 'You wouldn't leave your radio in your car, so don't leave your child in there.'

http://www.comedycentral.com/images/...ode/206_19.jpg

[Coastie 585]

HA, That episode was funny.

"But they were going to do an attack on him, and his "Edged Weapon Defense" is only lvl 13!"