Abu Dhabi: Parents shouldn’t leave children unattended in parked cars especially in the summer months, Abu Dhabi Police have said.
Leaving children unattended in cars leaves them at risk of heat exhaustion, suffocation and other complications, sometimes with fatal consequences, police warned.
Temperatures can go from normal to overwhelming fairly quickly for a child trapped in a car in hot weather.
Recently, an Emirati couple lost their 19 month-old baby after they left her in their car. The car was parked in the sun causing the child’s death from suffocation and heat fatigue, Gulf News reported in July.
Colonel Dr Rashid Mohammad Borshid, Acting Director of the Capital Police Directorate, urged parents to adhere to general safety rules issued by the Ministry of Interior, especially when it comes to child safety.
“Most of the accidents have been a result of the miscalculated and unintended negligence of the child’s parents or attendants. This negligence has led to children suffocating inside the car, because the heat produces carbon dioxide gas in the car and toxic gases are additionally emitted from the seats,” said Colonel Dr Borshid.
He also sought to highlight the risk of children locking themselves inside the vehicle when left unsupervised.
“When parents let their children play with the keys of the vehicle, they could use the remote control to end up locking it up from the inside. This is especially prevalent with new, modern cars,” he added.
Being trapped inside vehicles triggers a nervous reaction within children, Dr Borshid said.
Authorities have urged parents to dial the emergency number 999 whenever they feel that their child may be at risk of being trapped in a closed vehicle.
