Opinion: Leaving kids alone in cars

Target Zero Manager Doug Dahl answers a reader’s question about the danger of leaving kids in cars

Q: I don’t know what the Washington state law is, but I watched a police program, state and city unknown, that said a child of six years old can be left unattended in a locked car if not more than 15 minutes. Is that true?

A: The rules vary from state to state, but it certainly wasn’t Washington. Our state doesn’t have a broad prohibition on leaving kids unattended in cars. Yes, you read that right. We have a couple laws for limited situations, and I’ll get to the details of those shortly, but if you’re not going to a bar or leaving the engine running, (and it feels uncomfortable to write this) it’s currently legal.

Now I’ll admit that I’m out of my depth on this question. I’m a traffic safety nerd; I focus on high-risk driving behaviors like speed, impairment, and distraction, and the impacts they have on road users. If you can prove my previous statement wrong, I’d welcome that. However, I’m pretty sure I’m right based on a bill that’s been proposed in the last two legislative sessions.

Currently, there are two laws regarding leaving a child unattended in a vehicle. One: It is a misdemeanor to leave a child under the age of sixteen unattended in a parked vehicle in a public place with the motor running. Side note: This law was written in 1961 so there’s no consideration as to what it might mean for electric cars. Two: It is a misdemeanor to leave a child under age twelve “unattended by an adult while such person enters a tavern or other premises where vinous, spirituous, or malt liquors are dispensed for consumption on the premises.” Side note- This law was written in 1951, when we referred to drinking establishments as taverns and said things like, “vinous” and “spirituous.”

If you think those two laws leave a giant gap for unsafe behavior, at least some legislators agree with you. A bill was proposed in the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions that would make it a misdemeanor to knowingly leave a child under the age of nine unattended by an adult in a parked vehicle.

For now, we’re living with the two laws I mentioned above. In an effort to be thorough, I checked the laws about reckless endangerment and criminal mistreatment, but even though leaving a baby in a car for an hour while grocery shopping is a bad idea, it doesn’t appear to meet the standards for those laws.

We don’t have to wait for a law to make the right choice about a child’s safety. Maybe a good guideline would be (and now I’m really out of my depth giving parenting advice), don’t leave your child alone in a situation where if a problem arises they can’t solve it without you. For example, if a fourteen-year-old is alone in a car on a sunny day, they can roll down the window or open the door if they get too warm. A sleeping one-year-old in a car seat is trapped. Fortunately, hot car deaths are rare in Washington (six in the last 25 years). But if you’re a parent looking for something to worry about, there were 44 car thefts with kids in the car in 25 years (none of them fatal, but all certainly terrifying for the parents.)

And if we’re comparing tragedies, last year 27 kids in Washington died as passengers in traffic crashes. Deciding not to leave a child in a parked car is important, but even more important is what the driver does after they put the car in gear.

TheWiseDrive is hosted by Doug Dahl, a Target Zero manager for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.