These efforts of over a century have led to our current understanding that child maltreatment includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, as well as neglect and endangerment. The risk to a child’s physical, mental, or emotional well-being is endangerment. It is this recognition of child endangerment that implicates minors and motor vehicles most often. Today, child abuse statutes encompass child endangerment in several states. In many other states, such crimes are charged under the “reckless” provisions of traditional criminal charges. Child safety in motor vehicles is more than a traffic issue. Many cases.
