Appendix B
Unattended Vehicles Statutes

Below are state laws that carry penalties only if a child was injured or killed after being left alone in a motor vehicle.

MISSOURI

Mo. Ann. Stat. §568.052 (2004)  
Leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle who causes an accident -- first and second degree, penalties

1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:

(1) "Collision", the act of a motor vehicle coming into contact with an object or a person;

(2) "Injury", physical harm to the body of a person;

(3) " Motor vehicle", any automobile, truck, truck-tractor, or any motor bus or motor-propelled vehicle not exclusively operated or driven on fixed rails or tracks;

(4) " Unattended", not accompanied by an individual fourteen years of age or older.

2. A person commits the crime of leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle in the first degree if such person knowingly leaves a childten years of age or less unattendedin a motor vehicle and such childfatally injures another person by causing a motor vehicle collision or by causing the motor vehicle to fatally injure a pedestrian. Such person shall be guilty of a class C felony.
3. A person commits the crime of leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle in the second degree if such person knowingly leaves a child ten years of age or less unattendedin a motor vehicle and such child injures another person by causing a motor vehicle collision or by causing the motor vehicle to injure a pedestrian. Such person shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.