We need so many common sense laws that should apply to all 50 states. By taking action in some cases you can be considered a hero or having charges given to you depending on the laws of that particular state. Being in the middle of summer, most of us are facing sweltering heat and when you see a toddler locked in a car are you a hero for cracking the window to free the child or did you just become a criminal for defacing someone else’s  property? Believe it or not, it depends where you did it that determines whether you are hero or criminal. Most people would break the window anyway to save the child but others think twice and simply say that it is none of their business.

The summer months are always the time when children and pets are the most vulnerable to the heat yet there has been an alarming number of children and pets reported left alone in locked cars with the windows closed even if for a few minutes, the body temperature can soar to 105 degrees and that is lethal for children and pets. So far this year alone 10 children have died because they were left behind in hot cars. One child died last week in Texas. You can call 911 and the police will break the window to get the child out. New car technology has made it harder to pop the car door open with a tool or hanger. Carrie Underwood tweeted earlier this month that she broke her own window to get at her pet and child and keys left locked in.

Breaking into someone’s car is still considered breaking the law no matter the reason.  There   are only 4 states in America that has the “Good Samaritan Law’. They are Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma and Indiana where you will be thanked by law enforcement for being the first responder to stopping a possible tragedy. Why isn’t this the law in all the states? There are so many different rules and regulations from state to state from drugs to taxes to emergencies that one should be afraid to ever leave their state just from ignorance of each states very different laws. Our Supreme Court and Congress does not do enough to unify this country on every issue not only gay marriage.

The temperature in a car can climb 20 degrees in only ten minutes in the heat. Even an adult under the extreme temperatures can get an irregular heartbeat from the extreme temperature. The Internet is full of videos of people showing the effects on their bodies from the extreme heat in closed cars. The videos on You Tube from PITA get a million views. NFL player Tyrone Matthew has a video showing him suffering from the extreme heat. This month in Tennessee a law has been extended to allow good Samaritans to break into a car to also rescue dogs.

Earlier this summer there was an arrest in Athens, Georgia after an Army Veteran broke the window   of a car to rescue a small Terrier. The charges were later dropped only after a protest. ABC has a show What Would You Do where they conducted a social experiment of seeing the reaction of people to these situations. Some people were outraged and others  didn’t care.  Anyone in this country should not be in fear of prosecution when they step in to help a neglected child or pet   left alone in a hot car.