AIBU to think that leaving young children in a car for over 1/2 an hour in this heat is irresponsible.

[StitchAteMySleep]

Yesterday DH told me that in the full heat of the afternoon he had seen two children (young under 3) sleeping in a car for over half an hour and still no sign of parent. No windows open. Must have been like an oven in there.

Apart from the other risks, AIBU to think this parent was irresponsible?

5 mins while popping to the shop is one thing, but half an hour is a long time.

Why hasn't he called 999? That's what I would have done.

Me too.....999.

Its more than irresponsible.

Its downright neglectful, stupid and dangerous.

I hope someone did something other than observe.

Totally irresponsible. Yadnbu

I would have called someone, those poor children.

Yanbu, extremely irresponsible, your dh should have called the police (I would, and have done in the past). Even with a window partially open a car can heat up and retain that heat so quickly, and a toddler is ill equipped to regulate his own body temperature. Who knows how long the parents had been away before your dh had started timing his half hour. Poor kids. I don't even leave my dog in the car on a hot day.

Leaving them asleep even on a normal day is irresponsible enough, did he see the parents return?

Hopefully they were just sleeping and nothing worse.

There's no way I'd have left them there - there have been horrific stories of parents genuinely forgetting about children in hot cars and the children dying. I would have called the police and stayed until they were out.

I hope he called the police?

that's awful. Poor children. You do not leave any living creature in a car in this heat. It's the very definition of irresponsible and bloody dAngerous.

OP, please come back and tell us he saw the parents come back and that the children were ok.

He did nothing did he because your post would have been entirely different if he had?

He couldn't have watched for half an hour then just left?

Shit I thought this might have been a thread about me. I left my 5 year old and 1 year old in the car with window open whilst I ran inside tesco to buy some printing paper yesterday evening. I took about 5 mins at most. I wonder if people would think that is irresponsible too?

I can't believe someone would witness that and not do something.

Do he watched for half an hour & just left? Did parents turn up?

They could have died in that time.

Why on earth didn't he call the police?

Seriously - did he really observe that for 30 minutes and not do anything?

DeathByTray I agree!

Sadly there are cases of babies dying from overheating in cars (bigger children tend to be able to get out).

I'd call the police to a dog in a car with no open windows on a hot day, and definitely for children.

Children die in hot cars. Not just dogs.

I would've banged on the window to wake them up. Then I would've dialled 999. They could've been abandoned.

Hope they're ok.

I once called the police when I saw 3 small children left in a car. It wasn't a particularly hot day, but they were distressed because the alarm kept going off.

The police took it very seriously.

They were being looked after by the grandmother and she had gone off to do her shopping.

I presume your DH saw the parent come back after the 30 minutes?

3littlefrogs - that is awful, the poor children.

Horse, I'm not so sure as the OP said "over half an hour and still no sign of the parents"