2023 Oklahoma Statutes
Title 47. Motor Vehicles
§47-11-1119. Definitions - Unattended child or vulnerable adult in motor vehicle prohibited - Exception - Penalty.

A. As used in the Forget-Me-Not Vehicle Safety Act:

1. “Person responsible for a child” means a custodial parent or legal guardian of a child, or a person who has been directed or authorized to supervise a child by that child’s custodial parent or legal guardian;

2. “Unattended” means beyond a person’s direct ability to care for or come to the aid of the unaccompanied person; and

3. “Motor vehicle” means the same as defined in Section 1-134 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

B. A person responsible for a child who is six (6) years of age or younger, or a caretaker of a vulnerable adult as defined by Section 10-103 of Title 43A of the Oklahoma Statutes, shall not leave that child or vulnerable adult unattended in a motor vehicle if the conditions, including, but not limited to, extreme weather, inadequate ventilation, or hazardous or malfunctioning components within the vehicle present a risk to the health or safety of the unattended child or vulnerable adult.

C. It shall not be considered a violation of this section if the child or vulnerable adult is accompanied in the motor vehicle by a person at least twelve (12) years of age who is not mentally incompetent as defined by Section 1-103 of Title 43A of the Oklahoma Statutes.

D. Any person convicted of violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by:

1. A fine of not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) upon a first conviction;

2. A fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) and ordered to perform community service of not less than fifty (50) hours upon a second conviction; and

3. A fine of not less than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) upon a third or subsequent conviction, and the full record of that person's convictions of the violations of this section shall be submitted to the Department of Human Services for evaluation.

E. Any person convicted of violating the provisions of this section who has left a child or vulnerable adult unattended in a motor vehicle on the premises of any establishment which holds any license for the sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises pursuant to Section 521 of Title 37 of the Oklahoma Statutes, and who has consumed any alcoholic beverage during the period of time the child or vulnerable adult has been unattended, shall be punished by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).

F. Nothing in this section precludes prosecution under any other provision of law.

Added by Laws 2008, c. 343, § 2.