Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

ACCORDING to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA), nearly 250,000 children are injured every year in car crashes on the roads. Of these, about 2,000 children die from their injuries. Vehicular accidents are the leading cause of death or acquired disability (e.g., brain injury, paralysis, loss of limbs, etc.) for children, between the ages of 2 and 14, nationwide.

Some of the injuries and deaths from these accidents are caused by failing to properly use child safety seats or child restraint systems, or the malfunctions of these devices, or more commonly, impaired or distracted drivers. I once helped a couple whose daughter was killed in an auto accident. Their daughter was in the sidewalk when a car lost control, went over the curb, then struck and killed her.

But there are other car-related accidents involving children that are not caused by car crashes or collisions. My client shared the story of another mother she met at the cemetery who confided to her how she had struck and killed her own child when she was backing up her car in her own driveway.

One would think that this was a rare occurrence until the facts are considered. Non-traffic and non-crash accidents involving children are not uncommon and happen when: drivers back over children while driving in reverse ("backovers"); when drivers drive large vehicles with front blind zones and run over children ("frontovers"); when children are left in vehicles and suffer heat strokes; when children play with the power windows and are accidentally trapped; or when children accidentally set vehicles in motion.

Backovers: Driveway backovers are all too common all across America. About fifty (50) children are backed over each week in the United States. Statistics further show that the bigger the SUVs and mini vans are, the larger their blind zones. Even when drivers look back before driving in reverse, they will be unable to tell if, for example, a toddler is behind their vehicle.

Frontovers: Vehicles that are higher, wider, and longer not only have blind zones at the back, they also have greater blind zones in front. A case in point: the driver of a Chevy Avalanche in a drive-through lane stopped to let a 3-year-old and his grandmother pass. The driver said he did not see the boy’s twin, who was following, walking in the blind zone. The car pulled forward and the child was killed.

Slow-moving front- and backover accidents happen more than 2,400 times a year, according to a Centers for Disease Control study, and most victims are not more than one year old.