In all the articles you linked above, not one involved a child being left alone in a car and escaping, then getting hit in the parking lot. So, yes, until ther

In all the articles you linked above, not one involved a child being left alone in a car and escaping, then getting hit in the parking lot. So, yes, until there's a documented case of that actually happening I would consider the risk to be negligible. However, if you arrest the parent, saddle them with months of legal fees, potentially take their child away and put them into a foster care system, that's not without risks to the child as well. It's not like having your parents impoverished and potentially put in jail does wonders for a child's future either. That has a far higher probability of happening than your so far completely hypothetical scenario of the child escaping from the car in five minutes and wandering around the parking lot until getting hit.