[§291C-121.5]  Leaving a child unattended in
a motor vehicle.  (a)  Notwithstanding chapter 571 or any other law to the
contrary, a person violates this section if the person, being the operator or
an adult passenger of a motor vehicle, leaves the motor vehicle for five
minutes or longer when an unattended child is inside the vehicle, regardless of
whether the operator or adult passenger is charged with the care or custody of
the child.



(b)  Any law enforcement officer, firefighter,
or rescue team personnel who observes a child left unattended in a motor
vehicle and determines that the unattended child is in physical danger, or
poses a danger to others, may use whatever means are reasonably necessary to
protect the child or others and remove the child from the motor vehicle.  If
the person who left the motor vehicle with an unattended child inside cannot be
located within a reasonable time, the law enforcement officer, firefighter, or
rescue team personnel, upon removing the child from the motor vehicle, shall
immediately report the matter to a police officer, as defined under section
587-2, who may assume protective custody of the child without a court order and
without the consent of the child's family.



(c)  Law enforcement officers, firefighters,
and rescue team personnel shall not be liable in any civil action to any party
for any act performed in good faith under this section.



(d)  As used in this section:



"Child" means a person under the age
of nine.



"Rescue team personnel" means
physicians, basic life support personnel, advanced life support personnel,
surgeons, nurses, volunteers, or employees of the owners or operators of a
hospital or authorized emergency vehicle who have been trained in basic or
advanced life support and have been charged by the owners or operators of the
hospital or authorized emergency vehicle with providing life support and
resuscitation to persons who are in immediate danger of loss of life in cases
of emergency.



"Unattended" means leaving a child:



(1)  Alone in a motor vehicle; or



(2)  In a motor vehicle with a minor under the age of
twelve. [L 2008, c 170, §2]