Leaving A 10 Year Old Child In A Running Semi-truck During A Break

Good day Drivers,

Just as the title implies. What are your thoughts on leaving a 10 year old in a running semi-truck while the driver takes a shower (30 minutes) at a truck stop?

I personally think that driver is out of their mind. Too many things could go wrong with that child alone for so long. I witnessed a child get killed when his dad left him alone in a semi back when they only had the floor mounted parking brake. He evidently went into a truck stop to get a coffee, the brake didn't hold and the child tried to exit the cab and tripped and fell under the wheels killing him. Truly a disaster waiting to happen.

NOPE ! not a good idea for ANY reason.....Your ass/future is on the line, if the kid decides to play with the shifter / steering wheel or whatever. TOO big of a risk, just easier to just take the kid, and have his butt take a shower at the same time, and be in your watchful eye ......Not like they are a dog, and will patiently lay around waiting your return to the truck.....

I have witnessed 3 seperate parked trucks catch on fire. Burned to the gound.

I personally do not even like the idea of children on the road. When you see the twisted wrecks in a "boneyard" it is sobering.

And what if someone breaks into the truck? You do realize human trafficking is a thing right?

No no no no. Sorry

Thank you for your input drivers. I had the same conclusions prior to asking the question. I was asking to get validation on the matter. This is why I asked.

I have been raising my grandson since birth, he is now 10. We are going through a contentious custody battle right now. My wife and I have had permanent kinship guardianship since he was 1 1/2 years old. His father (not my son) now wants to be in his life. There is a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) involved and she arranged for my grandson to visit over a weekend in May and again a couple of weeks ago. Both visits he felt it was okay to leave my grandson alone in a running Semi as he took a shower at a Pilot in Albuquerque. I about flipped when I learned of it and I immediately notified the GAL. I am so grateful that nothing bad happened, but I couldn't sleep for some nights thinking of what could have happened.

Again, I appreciate your responses and validation of what a regular person may have thought on the matter. We have court next week. This is definitely going to come up.

I was wondering how the OP knew the child was 10 years old and the driver went in for a shower. Mystery solved.

I would agree with the others that leaving the kid alone was not a good thing to do. There may be rare circumstances when that would be safe to do, but not in that situation.

The best thing to do would be what Stevo suggested. Take the kid in with you and have him either shower or sit on the bench and wait inside the shower room. Maybe the father lacks common sense. To be in a custody dispute and to then do something that would leave you open to a neglect accusation is not using common sense..

After i thought about this... i thought "so the adult needs a shower but the kid doesnt?" Sounds like neglect of hygiene as well as neglect being left in the truck

Thought the exact same thing Kearsey, the kid has to need a shower too ! get a 2 fer 1 use lol.....

It always amazes me, on the lack of much common sense these days, and it continually gets worse!!