Woman gets good behaviour bond for leaving her young child in a hot car

A woman who left her three-year-old boy in a car on a 41.8C day has avoided jail and been handed a 12-month good behaviour bond.

While the prosecution argued the Adelaide woman had left her child in the car on purpose because she knew he would be in a bad mood if she woke him, she told the court she had simply forgot he was in the vehicle.

It’s something many parents can no doubt relate to — being so busy and having so much to do that things sometimes slip your mind.

But when the consequences of a mistake like this are so serious, it leads many to ask: is the punishment harsh enough for the crime?

Every year, nearly 1,000 children are left in hot cars around the country, many suffering heat stroke and dehydration and some tragically dying.

It’s not just children either. The RSPCA says it has already received over 1000 phone calls this year reporting dogs that have been left in hot cars by their owners.

Temperatures inside a car on a hot day can easily reach 70C or more in a matter of minutes, meaning children or pets left inside have little chance of escaping unharmed.

There have been numerous calls for harsher laws against pet owners who leave their animals in hot cars, but should the same rules apply to parents who leave their kids behind in the car?

What are your thoughts on this?

Should we have harsher laws for leaving children and pets in hot cars? Should the same punishment apply to pet owners and parents?