DRIVING around with kids in a car comes with full responsibility.
There are requirements like car seats, especially when they are still very young.
Taking extra care on the road is also needed to ensure the safety of kids all the time.
Motorists should be vigilant, especially when they park at busy shopping malls or public gatherings.
However, some motorists still need to be educated on how to look after their young kids when driving around with them.
This could be the case with a Tynwald man, whose two kids were kidnapped, when he left his car keys on ignition to relieve himself.
The man is not only reckless but an irresponsible father.
He left his two kids – aged two and three – in a parked car with the engine running to relieve himself by the roadside.
When he returned, both his car and children were gone.
After a thorough search, he later found them at Marimba Shopping Centre in Belvedere.
The car thief, who made off with the vehicle, is on the police wanted list.
Although the Tynwald man got immense relief, after finding his kids who had been dumped at the shopping centre, he should be reminded of his irresponsibility.
He violated one of the simple traffic commandments which re-quires motorists to switch off their vehicles, and take away the keys, each time they park.
How he left car keys on the ignition, with the engine running while the kids were on board, is quite shocking.
The Tynwald father’s case should come as a lesson to others who are reckless when driving around with kids on board.
In 2021, a Chiredzi pre-school teacher made headlines after two kids suffocated to death in the trunk of a Honda Fit.
The teacher allegedly forgot them in the trunk.
Some were resuscitated while the two died upon admission at Chiredzi District Hospital.
These are some of the cases which can occur when reckless motorists are driving around with their kids.
With cases of people stealing children on the increase, motorists should be vigilant and firm all the time.
They should ensure that they have the company of old people, especially when they park in public lots where there will be a lot of people milling around.
In the case of the Tynwald father, he was lucky that the thief was only after his vehicle, and not children.
Many such cases have not ended in the kind of happy endings we saw at the weekend when the children were found.
However, what is clear is that he exposed his children to a lot of trauma during this ordeal where even their lives were at stake.
We should always know that there are some people trying to steal something, including our cars and we should always be vigilant.
To leave the keys on the ignition of a car is reckless.
It’s even an invitation to a car thief that you can come and get this present.