DUBAI // A member of the Federal National Council and a road-safety expert have called on parents to be more vigilant after police revealed 130 cases of children being left alone in cars so far this year.
Dr Aisha Al Roumi, a Sharjah member of the FNC, said parents should be punished if found to be negligent, while road-safety expert, Roshanara Sait, said greater awareness was needed.
The calls were made after Dubai Police revealed that 113 children had to be rescued from locked cars between January and October. And that number had increased to 130 in just a few weeks.
“I believe the action of parents who leave their child in a vehicle is irresponsible and they should face the consequences,” said Dr Al Roumi.
“A mother cannot think that she can leave her child in the car for even two minutes while she finishes an errand. What if she loses track of time? What if something happens to her and she can’t get back to the vehicle?
“One hundred and thirty cases in Dubai is a big number, and those are only the ones that are recorded. People should be more aware of the dangers of such behaviour.”
Ms Sait said parents lacked awareness of the danger they were putting their child in when they left them in a car.
“No parent in their right mind wants to intentionally harm their children,” she said. “They are simply not aware of how dangerous the act is.
“People must be cautious, there must be education and more awareness. They are just ignorant of how serious the problem is.
“I think the issue of leaving a child in the car is a matter of awareness and education, and the same goes for road safety.
“It’s the same with matters such as people not wearing a seat belt, allowing their child in the front seat or not putting them in a car seat. ”
Maj Abdullah Bisho, director of the land rescue unit at Dubai Police, revealed the figures and said the children concerned were, on average, aged two or three.
“We have had a case of a child who was in the car while his parents were walking around from place to place to find an apartment to rent and another who was left in the vehicle while the parents were shopping,” he said.
“Thank God, all the children were rescued and survived. A child must not be left in a vehicle for even one minute, especially when temperatures in the country can reach staggering numbers in summer.”
Maj Bisho said his units always aimed to be on the scene in less than 12 minutes from being alerted.
“It’s never clear how long a child can be in that situation,” he said. “The child might have already started to suffer from dehydration or exhaustion.
“No matter what the situation, an ambulance is also called to scene. The child must be properly assessed to make sure he is completely fine whether or not he passed out.”
He said that most reports of this kind came from good Samaritans who spotted the children in car parks, in malls or on the street.
“We have received complaints from different areas, and from all different nationalities,” he said. “This is quite a strange phenomena, and we are continuously trying to raise awareness on the matter.”
Maj Bisho urged motorists to always lock their vehicles, even when they reached their own garages, but only after they had made sure that no one had been left behind.
“This is in case a child gets into the car and is unable to let himself back out,” he said.
In addition, he asked people to always look around their vehicles before leaving. “It’s worth spending a minute double-checking the vehicle – it could save a life,” he said.
dmoukhallati@thenational.ae