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Children and Cars –

A Potentially Lethal Combination

Acknowledgements

American Prosecutors Research Institute

99 Canal Center Plaza, Suite 510

Alexandria, VA 22314

www.ndaa-apri.org

Thomas J. Charron

President

Debra Whitcomb

Director, Grant Programs and Development

Stephen K. Talpins

Director, Public Policy

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Elizabeth Earleywine

Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor

Illinois Department of Transportation

Office of Chief Counsel

Jennifer L. Torre

Development Assistant, Grant Programs and Development

This document was produced thanks to grant DTNH22-98-H-05881 from the National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA). This information is offered for educational purposes only and is not

legal advice.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily

represent the official position of NHTSA, the National District Attorneys Association, or the American

Prosecutors Research Institute.

2005 by the American Prosecutors Research Institute, the nonprofit research, training, and technical

assistance affiliate of the National District Attorneys Association.

Children and Cars – A Potentially Lethal Combination

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements......................................................................................................................................... ii

Child Endangerment and Motor Vehicles......................................................................................................v

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1

Child Restraints and Safety Belts ................................................................................................................... 1

Identifying the Problem ..................................................................................................................... 1

Child Restraint Devices ..................................................................................................................... 1

Loopholes and Exemptions in the Law.............................................................................................. 3

Loopholes............................................................................................................................... 3

Exemptions ............................................................................................................................ 3

Public Awareness................................................................................................................................ 4

Potential Criminal Liability ............................................................................................................... 4

Child Endangerment and Driving While Impaired/Intoxicated (DWI)....................................................... 5

Identifying the Problem ..................................................................................................................... 5

Potential Criminal Liability............................................................................................................................ 6

General Child Endangerment Statutes.............................................................................................. 6

Special DUI/Child Endangerment Statutes...................................................................................... 7

Unattended Children and Cars ..................................................................................................................... 9

Identifying the Problem ..................................................................................................................... 9

Hot Cars............................................................................................................................................. 9

Trunk Entrapment........................................................................................................................... 11

Power Window Strangulation.......................................................................................................... 11

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Children and Cars – A Potentially Lethal Combination

Vehicle Set in Motion ...................................................................................................................... 12

Public Awareness.............................................................................................................................. 12

Potential Criminal Liability ............................................................................................................. 12

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 14

Appendix A: Motor Vehicle Statutes That Address Child Endangerment ................................................ 15

Appendix B: Unattended Vehicles Statutes................................................................................................ 49

Appendix C: List of Child Endangerment Statutes.................................................................................... 55

Resources...................................................................................................................................................... 65

Endnotes....................................................................................................................................................... 66

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Children and Cars – A Potentially Lethal Combination

Child Endangerment and Motor Vehicles

The existence of child abuse and neglect extends as far back in history as children themselves. Sadly, the

history of the recognition of forms of abuse and neglect, as well as the laws designed to protect children

from them, is not nearly as long. Author L. DeMause; in his book The History of Childhood: The

Untold History of Child Abuse, stated, “the history of child abuse is a nightmare from which we have only

begun to awaken.”1

The United States followed its European counterparts’ views of children well into the Industrial

Revolution, disregarding massive poverty, child labor, and neglected youth. Not until the late 19th century

did reform begin. Ironically, it started in 1874 with the Society to Prevent Cruelty to Children, founded

nine years after the Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals. In the mid 20th century, child abuse became a

recognized medical diagnosis, and later this concept was expanded to include child neglect.

These efforts of over a century have led to our current understanding that child maltreatment includes

physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, as well as neglect and endangerment. The risk to a child’s physical,

mental, or emotional well-being is endangerment. It is this recognition of child endangerment that

implicates minors and motor vehicles most often. Today, child abuse statutes encompass child

endangerment in several states. In many other states, such crimes are charged under the “reckless”

provisions of traditional criminal charges.

Child safety in motor vehicles is more than a traffic issue. Many cases of minor occupant protection are

intertwined with child abuse and neglect. Prosecutors must evaluate each of these tragedies for possible

criminal charges; failing to do so disregards the value of many lost lives.

Mary Leary

Attorney

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