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RCMP urge parents to be careful with kids in vehicles

The Stettler RCMP are urging parents and caretakers to be careful when leaving children in parked vehicles, even just for a short time.
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Stettler RCMP and the Stettler Regional Fire department responded to a collision in Stettler last week

The Stettler RCMP are urging parents and caretakers to be careful when leaving children in parked vehicles, even just for a short time.

Last week, police spoke to one family after two young children were left unattended in a pickup truck on Main Street for roughly 30 minutes, detachment commander Sgt. Duncan Babchuk explained.

He said a local business phoned 911 after the crying of the youngest child went on for several minutes and they couldn’t find the owner of the vehicle in nearby stores.

Once summer temperatures arrive, it only takes 10 minutes for temperatures to become uncomfortably hot, and depending on whether the vehicle is in the sun or full shade, it can easily reach 90 degrees Celsius.

Temperatures that high cause brain damage and death in both humans and pets. Even when windows are left open, temperatures can be uncomfortably hot.

Car theft with children inside or abduction only takes a moment of inattention, and even young children can escape vehicles and possibly end up in traffic, or move a vehicle out of park.

No charges were laid in the Main Street incident.

Three people were sent to hospital shortly past 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 24 after a northbound vehicle struck an eastbound car, Babchuk said. The 17-year-old driver of the car and two passengers were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The three girls were taken to the hospital by local EMS, and the 72-year-old driver of the other vehicle was unharmed.

The collision slowed traffic at the intersection of Highway 56 and 44 Avenue for a short time until the debris was cleaned up. Investigation revealed the driver of the car “failed to proceed safely after stopping at the stop sign,” police revealed, and she was issued a ticket. Weather and road conditions, alcohol and drugs were not a factor.