Do You Leave Your Child Alone In The Car?
We all know that Jersey City is not the friendliest place when it comes to parking, especially when we are in a rush. Don’t believe it? Drive around a busy area – say, downtown maybe – and in less than 5 minutes, you’ll see double-parked cars with their emergency lights on. And the driver, somewhere in his shirt running errands.
JC seems lenient about this habit, and I can’t recall an incident when a driver was ticketed because of it.
But what if the driver has a kid and decided to leave him in the car alone? That’s a different story.
Original Photo from MS-Word Clipart Gallery, caption by JCRegister
A Chicago mother – Treffly Coyne – was arrested because she momentarily left her child in the car (vehicle was within sight). She’s on trial today. This case is big debate on the internet and various blogs because some say the officer who arrested her went overboard.
Read this hot topic on this link.
This made me wonder: what’s NJ Law about this?I tried researching yesterday but couldn’t find any detailed rules and policies on leaving kids inside the vehicle. If you know, care to share?
Anyway, in my JC life, I haven’t seen or heard a news about a parent leaving his/her child in a car alone.
As far as JCRegister is concerned, don’t be the first one! 
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For information about a NJ law please go to http://ggweather.com/heat/laws.htm#NJ and scroll down. Also please read information on http://ggweather.com/heat/index.htm.
There are several organizations i.e. forgetmenotusa.com, 4rkidssake.org, kidsandcars.org, harrisonshope.org who are working to educate the public to the dangers of leaving children unattended in cars for any reason. In my estimation the police officer was doing his duty and saving this family from an avoidable tragedy. This is not an indictment of this Mom’s love for her child or parental skills, it is her ignorance as to what can and has happened in similar situations. If she left her alone this time, you know there will be other times and it only takes a minute for something to happen.
I think the punishment should be researching and doing community service about the dangers of leaving children alone in vehicles.
Hi Andrea, thanks for commenting, you made my life easier. I got hits couple of minutes after posting this yesterday, unfortunately they had not seen your comment yet.
Thanks again!
After reading blogs re: this subject, it seems that
no one gets our message. I am glad that Mrs. Coyne was not prosecuted, but having said that I worry that the public does not understand the magnitude of this problem and someone will lose a child. One question people should ask themselves “What would I do if I saw child/children left alone in a vehicle?
Girl, 2, found in mall lot; mom charged with endangerment Friday, February 1, 2008 PEQUANNOCK — A West Milford woman has been charged with child endangerment after her 2-year-old daughter was found wandering outside a Route 23 strip mall on Wednesday. Daphne J. Megna, 37, later told police she left the child sleeping inside her SUV and went shopping at Specialty Sports.
Around 2 p.m., another shopper spotted a child wandering around the parking lot at the Oak Farms Garden Center strip mall, which is adjacent to busy Route 23 south. Police arrived, but because the toddler was too young to talk, they went store-to-store in search of the child’s parents. In the parking lot they came upon a 2003 Dodge Durango SUV parked in front of Specialty Sports. The engine was running and a child safety seat was inside. Police went inside, where they found Megna on the second floor. Because New Jersey has no statute that specifically prohibits leaving a child alone in a car, police phoned the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office to seek guidance.The prosecutor’s office instructed them to charge Megna with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Under New Jersey law, a person is guilty of child endangerment if she causes harm that would make the child "abused or neglected."– Richard CowenPEQUANNOCK —
A West Milford woman has been charged with child endangerment after her 2-year-old daughter was found wandering outside a Route 23 strip mall on Wednesday.Daphne J. Megna, 37, later told police she left the child sleeping inside her SUV and went shopping at Specialty Sports. Around 2 p.m., another shopper spotted a child wandering around the parking lot at the Oak Farms Garden Center strip mall, which is adjacent to busy Route 23 south.Police arrived, but because the toddler was too young to talk, they went store-to-store in search of the child’s parents. In the parking lot they came upon a 2003 Dodge Durango SUV parked in front of Specialty Sports. The engine was running and a child safety seat was inside. Police went inside, where they found Megna on the second floor. Because New Jersey has no statute that specifically prohibits leaving a child alone in a car, police phoned the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office to seek guidance.The prosecutor’s office instructed them to charge Megna with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.Under New Jersey law, a person is guilty of child endangerment if she causes harm that would make the child "abused or neglected."– Richard Cowen