Good Samaritans who save kids, pets from hot cars would be protected under new SC bill
After two children and several pets died while trapped in hot cars in South Carolina this year, a state lawmaker introduced a bill that would protect good Samaritans working to get them out.
The bill, filed in the S.C. Senate, would exempt people from criminal charges and protect them from civil lawsuits if they break into hot cars to save the lives of children and animals, the bill’s sponsor state Sen. John Scott, D-Richland, said.
“We don’t want a good citizen doing something for the right reason to be punished,” Scott said. “It gives the court some flexibility.”
This year, two children died in South Carolina after being left in hot cars, according to data from KidsandCars.org, a nonprofit that collects data on children who die after becoming trapped in vehicles. In 2018, the Palmetto State led the country for kids dying in hot cars after six children were killed.
One of those children, Zion Akinrefon, 4, died in a hot car in Blythewood. Investigators believed the child accidentially locked himself inside of the car after wandering away from his parents.
Cristina Pangalangan, a 13-year-old with special needs, died after being left in a car in Colleton County. Two adults, including Pangalangan’s mother, were arrested in the case.
PETA has found eight cases of animals dying after being locked in a hot car in S.C. over the last year, including in Columbia, Myrtle Beach and Rock Hill, according to the group’s website.
South Carolina law currently only protects good Samaritans from being sued for damaging a vehicle to save a vulnerable adult or a child. But the law does not extend those protections to criminal cases, nor does it protect those trying to save an animal.
People who break a car window to rescue a child or an animal may face charges, such as vandalism, Scott said.
Scott said he has not heard of a case in which someone was prosecuted for breaking into a car in South Carolina.
However, he said it’s common sense to extend protections to people who break into hot cars where pets are trapped and to exempt from criminal prosecution people who break into cars to free children.
“I think that’s justifiable because a life is saved,” Scott said.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 1:30 PM.
