All drivers, parents especially, need to check behind your car before reversing. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention after analyzing data reported that each week nearly 50 children are injured by cars reversing. On average two of these children will die due to injuries obtained in the accident. It has been found that in most of these accidents the person driving the car is a family member. Most new cars to day have a built in sensor on the back of the car that will alarm the driver if there is something behind the car when the car is shifted into reverse. Charleston child injury lawyers believe this is a wonderful feature to have on a car, but should not be solely relied on because many things are out of the sensor’s range.
Recently a 22-month-old boy was killed when he was accidently struck by an SUV. The driver of the SUV was the boy’s father. The father was backing his SUV down the driveway so he could wash the car. The boy and other children were playing in the garage and when the boy saw his father’s car reversing down the driveway he ran to the car. His father attempted to reach out of the drivers side door and grab his son. In doing so the father fell out of the car, leaving the car unattended. The child was fatally struck by the driver’s side front tire, causing massive head trauma. The unattended car then traveled across the street and struck a neighbor’s garage door before coming to a stop.
The boy was taken by ambulance to the Medical University Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Charleston County Police responded to the scene, taped it off with yellow crime-scene tape, and preceded to conduct an investigation. The investigation is still pending but no charges have been filed. A similar accident happened in 2007 in Goose Creek, when a 4-year-old girl was fatally hit when her father was backing up his pickup truck in the family’s driveway. Drivers please double check your surroundings before backing up your car, these extra seconds can make a life or death difference in a child’s life.
Source: The Post and Courier- “Boy dies in accident as dad backs SUV.” April 2, 2010.
