aibu to think this guy was completely off his rocker or just a nasty piece of work?

[blushingm]

I left ds (9yo) in the back of the car while i nipped into the guide hall to collect dd from rainbows. he was reading and is quite sensible. I left the engine running as it was warm and the air con was on.

while i was in the guide hall an old guy walking his dog approached my car and started swearing and threatening ds. He then went around the otherside of the car, removed my keys and threw them over the wall into the adjoining grave yard.

i was gone less than 5 minutes. there was a guy parked behind my car who saw it all - he retrieved my keys and tried to chase after the older guy but he'd gone. ds was very very upset

i'm and that someone would think it's ok to behave that way - the guide hut is in a very very small, usually friendly town - people dont usually lock thier cars and houses unless they are going away

the more i think about it the more cross i am getting

For those that are appalled; do you really get your kids out the car when paying for petrol?

It is no more dangerous to leave him in the car than to let him play outside.

Notions of spontaneous fires, car crashes, avalanches, lighning strikes, Taliban child abductors need to countered against the balance of probabilities. How many children were kidnapped for cars in that village in the last 2000 years?

Can we agree that if the number is 0, then it was not a large risk to take

trixy - lol it's a golf!!

he called ds a fucking bastard child and that all fucking children should have been drowned! - the other parent told me what he'd said. He was sitting in his car and saw the whole thing

georgimama - i don't appreciate the name calling and you can blame him for behaving like that. If he had issue with it dont shout and swear at a 9 yo. Wait for me to come back!

I frequently leave DD (8) in the car, but I certainly wouldn't leave the keys in the ignition.

The man was a loon. YANBU.

sorry i went - had to put dc to bed and have a shower

I think those who are sanctimonous on here are not perfect themselves, and I am sure that they leave their dcs in car whilst paying for petrol, or nipping in a shop. I don't because I don't drive

What a shocking dereliction of duty, blushingm...imagine putting your children and personal hygiene before a good ruck on AIBU!

I leave dd in the car when paying for petrol. Nothing else. The main difference is I never leave the keys in the car never mind the engine running.

2nd coming - it's an entirely different thing.

bof -

Well op this has taught you a lesson, you left your ds in a car on his own, and some loon came over so there you go

Yep, I'm with secondcoming. BS radar is going off now.

The man was clearly a lizard shape shifter. They're very rare but this is classic shape shifter behaviour and this is the milieu they thrive in. I can't believe you're not more aware of the risks.

i for one wouldn't leave even my husband in the passenger seat with the keys in the ignition, listening to the radio. Outside a guide hut in a sleepy village filled with friends and acquintances. You never can tell with outlandish threats.

it's not bs it's absolutely true believe what you like georgimama and 2nd coming - i've been on mn for years so am not a troll or anything but can see why i normally avoid aibu

If you are reporting what the man said accurately, of course he's a loon. But that doesn't make it OK to leave the engine running. As people have said, it attracts opportunistic thieves, invalidates your insurance and is bad for the environment.

piglet, it is sensible to leave children in the car when paying for petrol. The risk of them being run over on the forecourt is higher than the risk of the car spontaneously combusting, or someone crashing into it (both things that do happen but very rarely). But that's quite different to what the OP did - you don't leave the engine running when you are filling up, do you?

If that's true sidge, then why do so many Eco cars shut the engine down when you stop at lights and restart when you put them into gear to move off?

I believe it is to save fuel. That's why they have more economical fuel consumption figure than other cars.

YWBU to leave keys in the ignition - any passing nutter/psycho could have taken off with your car and child, or thrown your keys over the wall.

No edam I would open windows, keep door locked and take keys out of the ignition

I think most sane mothers would take keys out of ignition

Heck I don't know trixy I'm no engineer. A quick Google leads me to believe that engines with stop/start technology have a different alternator system and use a high voltage battery to power accessory systems to save fuel.

So it doesn't apply to all cars, only those vehicles with this technology.

So if you have a 'normal' car you may not get increased fuel efficiency by switching off the engine for short periods.

But don't quote me on this, I know how people work not motor cars!

i think you are a bit mad leaving your son in a car with the engine running. I live in a very safe/doors unlocked village too but I have known of sex offenders who live in similar safe areas.

I know feck all about cars but I have researched fule efficient driving techniques, and the sites all say that you should cut the engine whilst idling. Since I have started doing that amongst other things I have increased my MPG by 10-15%.

fuel!

The alternator is different to withstand the many more stops and starts and the battery is high powered as it is used far more often than a standard battery. These things are not to save fuel but to make the car able to withstand multiple stops and starts per journey.

For a stop of 5 minutes there is no way it was more fuel efficient to leave the engine running.

It was perfectly reasonable to leave the car unlocked, with the keys inside and the engine running, because it was in a perfectly safe area where there are never any undesirable characters who could possibly approach the car and do anything unpleasant.

No, that's not right....