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45°C and climbing: Police warn of heavy fines, jail for leaving children in cars
Anyone who witnesses a child trapped alone in a vehicle is urged to act immediately by calling the emergency hotline to summon police and rescue teams before it is too late
- PUBLISHED: Thu 18 Jun 2026, 6:00 AM
As the summer heat intensifies across the country, police authorities in Sharjah, Ajman, and Fujairah have issued a stern warning to parents and motorists against a potentially fatal mistake: leaving children unattended inside parked vehicles.
With summer temperatures projected to soar to blistering highs of 45°C to nearly 50°C, authorities are treating this seasonal hazard with zero tolerance. Law enforcement agencies are launching high-intensity awareness campaigns to prevent tragic, heat-related injuries and fatalities.
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Brigadier Khalid Al-Kay, Director of the Traffic and Patrols Directorate at Sharjah Police, emphasised that public safety during the extreme summer months relies heavily on individual responsibility and absolute attentiveness.
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"Leaving a child inside a locked car — even for 'just a few minutes' while running a quick errand — is an invitation to tragedy," Brigadier Al-Kay warned. "As outside temperatures cross the 45°C mark, the interior of a parked vehicle acts as a greenhouse, spiking to a suffocating 60°C or higher in less than ten minutes. Because a child's body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult's, respiratory failure, severe heatstroke, or brain damage can occur almost instantly."
Sharjah Police are urging motorists to adopt a strict routine of checking the backseat before locking their vehicles and to treat car keys with the utmost care so children cannot accidentally lock themselves inside.
Collective social responsibility
Echoing these urgent warnings, Lieutenant Colonel Rashid Hamid bin Hindi, Deputy Director of the Traffic and Patrols Department at Ajman Police, stressed that safeguarding children from summer vehicle hazards requires collective community commitment.
"A moment of distraction or complacency can cost a life," Lieutenant Colonel bin Hindi stated. "We urge parents, guardians, and all members of the public to maintain total compliance with safety guidelines. Under no circumstances should a child be left alone in a vehicle, whether the engine is running with the air conditioning on or turned off."
The authority also called on bystanders to be proactive. Anyone who witnesses a child trapped alone in a vehicle is urged to act immediately by calling the emergency hotline (999) to summon police and rescue teams before it is too late.
Legal consequences for negligence
The authorities across the Northern Emirates have made it unequivocally clear that forgetting or leaving a child in a vehicle is not just a lapse in judgment — it is a serious criminal offense.
Under the UAE’s Federal Law No. 3 of 2016 concerning child rights (Wadeema Law), exposing a child to rejection, abandonment, or unsafe conditions constitutes severe negligence. Parents or guardians found guilty of leaving children unattended in vehicles face stringent legal penalties, including heavy financial fines and potential imprisonment for child endangerment.
As the mercury continues to climb, police forces are demanding total compliance, reminding the public that protecting the community's youngest members is a shared social responsibility that will be enforced with the full strength of the law.