Quote:
Originally Posted by Stealth22
I don't have kids, but my personal policy is going to be to bring him/her/them in with me, unless my wife will be in the car with them.
The toddler can easily unlock the door and get out of the car, or even move up to the front seat. Sure, he won't have the keys. But it's not hard to move the gear lever. A toddler with half a brain who's watched mommy and daddy drive can put a car into Neutral without much of an issue. Kids are smarter than you think. I personally used to take great interest in watching my parents drive when I was little.
So you can see the car? That's nice. You'll have a front-row seat view of your car rolling out of it's parking space when your 4-year-old puts the car in Neutral because "he saw Daddy do it" all the time. Then, your car hits a passing SUV, and your 4-year-old, who is not wearing the seatbelt, hits his head on the steering wheel or the windshield. Or the more likely scenario, he gets out of the car and wanders off, or god forbid, gets hit by another driver. You've now got an injured or missing child, a police officer who wants to have a chat, a damaged vehicle, and worst of all, an angry wife. 
/rant |
Or you pull your kid out of the car slip on a patch of ice and smash your kids head into the ground as you fall on top of him. Both risks exist. Both are marginal and far less than driving itself.
I agree that there is some risk of the kid getting out of the car but well trained kids wont. That is also why My personal rule is in sight of the car. Also your commitment to never leaving your kid in the car alone will be put under great pressure when you have a kid and their asleep in the back and you need to run in and get something. I am confused how an automatic car gets into neutral without keys.
One thing I recently learned was that child safety locks on back doors are actually dangerous. They were fine while your car has them but if you rent a car and the car rental doesnt have child safety locks you end up with your kid opening up the door while going down the highway. So which is safer? As a parent you make a risk assessment and decide what you are going to do or if you are going to worry about.